
„.,.™„., 







1 




Hi 



Incidents of Travel 



Southern States and Cuba. 



WITH A DESCRIPTION OF 

^l)f lliimmntl) OTalif. 



" A snapper-np of nnoonsidered trifles."' Sa <^ ^ 



NKW YORK 

R. Cr.\k;head. Printer, 83 Centre Streep. 

MDCCCLXII. 



\ 



To 
A WIDOWED motiip:u, 

A BELOVED WIFE, AND AN ONLY DAUGHTER. 

Three Bright Links in Affection's Chain, 

THIS VOLUME 18 
AFFECTIOXATKLY DEDICATED. 



Introductory. 



The following pages comprise poi'tions of private letters 
written by tlie author to liis family during a few months 
recently spent in Cuba and the Southern States. They 
are now published at the solicitation of a few friends, 
who have imagined them sufficiently interesting to 
warrant their preservation in book form. A limited 
number of copies have been printed, and as they are 
intended only for gratuitous distribution among the 
writer's friends and acquamtances, the "general public" 
will have little or no interest in the merits or demerits 
of the volume. 

The places visited iiave so often been described by 
intelligent travellers that it is almost im])ossil)le to 
avoid occasional similarities in description ; yet, as 
different observers will select different features, or even 
view the same things differently, it is ho}»ed it will be 
apparent that the impressions here g:*/"n, are those 
received from actual and appreciative observation. 



iv Introductory. 

Ill preparing these letters for the press, some parts 
of them containing personal allusions (which, like com- 
parisons, are sometimes odious) have been omitted, 
which will account for the disconnected and fragmentary 
style of some portions of the work. Those whose 
tastes incline them to prefer "grave subjects" to those 
of a humorous nature, may perhaps object to the light 
and apparently trifling character of some of these letters. 
Let such remember that variety is the spice of letters, 
as well as of life, and that 

" A little nonsense now and then, 
Is relished by the wisest men." 

This class of readers, doubtless, will find enough that 
is heavy before they finish the volume. 

C. H. E. 

Palmyra, i860. 



Contents. 



LETTER I.— WASHINGTON. 



PAGE 



A City of Magnificent Discrepancies. — Government Buildings. — 
The Court End. — Presiding Sjnriis. — Habits of the Denizens. 
— Hotel Life. — A Sudden Illness and Speedy Recovery. — 
Human Drones. — Levee at the White Iloase, ... 9 

LETTER II.— WASHINGTON. 
Our National Menagerie. — Fish, Flesh, and I})ul. — Noble and 
Ignoble Beasts. — The Lion Rampant. — Scene in the House of 
Representatives. — A Pro.sy Member. — A ISIaiden Speech. — 
Procuring a Passport. — Tiie Smithsonian Institution. — Wash- 
ington Monument. — Lions at the Navy Yard, . . .18 

LETTER III.— RICHMOND. 
A Picturesque Location. — The Poetry of Nature. — Public Build- 
ings. — Slave Culture. — Climatic Discoveries. — Nondescript 
Vehicles. — Novel Motive Power. — A StifT-necked Race. — Past 
and Present. — Decadence of the Old Dominion. — The F. F. 
V.'s on the Wane. — Its Representative Statesmen. — Western 
Virginia. — Its Resources and Future Prospects, ... 29 

LETTER IV.— CHARLESTON. 
Tropical Anticipations. — Capricious Weather. — Wilmington. — 
Staples of North Carolina. — A Moral State. — Slave Gangs. — 
Our Locomotive Impeded. — An Accident develops an Incident. 
—All's Well that Ends Well.— Arrival at the Palmetto City.— 
Agreeable Interview witli Nature's Sweet Restorer, . . 39 



vi Contents. 



LETTER v.— CHARLESTON. " 
Topography of the City.— A Sea-Cybele.— Its Public Parka.— 
The Athens of the South. — The E. F.'s and their Pecuharities. 
— Young South Carolina. — Rice Plantations.— Habits of the 
Planters. — Suburban Celebrities. — Charleston Harbor and 
Fortifications. — Physical and Moral Characteristics. — Political 
Heresies. — Miss Carolina a Lunatic. — A Prophecy, . . 48 

LETTER VI.— HAVANA. 
First Impressions. — Peculiar Dialect. — National Odor. — The 
Town of Regla. — Moro Castle. — Fortress of Cabanas — Eman- 
cipated Gondolas. — Custom House Ordeal. — Peculiar Regis- 
tration. — In Pursuit of a Habitation under Difficulties. — The 
Revere Hotel. — Spanish Cuisine. — La Dominica. — A Yankee 
Room-Mate. — Musical Watchmen, 59 

LETTER VIL— HAVANA. 

Intra Muros. — Anti-Peripatetic Habits of the Ladies. — Volantes 
and their Appendages. — Singular Customs of the Cubans. — 
Narrow Streets — Its Buildings. — Residence of a Marquis. 
— Ubiquitous Cigar. — Tropical Beauties. — The Cathedral. — 
Rags and Jewels in close Proximity. — Military Mass, . . 76 

LETTER VIIL— HAVANA. 

Peculiarities of the Tradesmen. — Mode of Shopping. — Monteros. 
— Customs of the Milkmen. — Venders of Fruits and Vegeta- 
bles. — The Paseo de Isabel. — Dazzling Pageant — Plaza do 
Armas. — The Poor Man's Opera — Tacon Paseo. — The Bishop's 
Garden. — Fish Market. — Story of Marti the Smuggler, . 91 

LETTER IX.— HAVANA. 
Visit to the Country. — Guines. — An Unappetizing Discovery. — 
A John Gilpin Ride. — An Ingenio. — Manner of making Sugar. 
— Congocs and Coolies. — Grades of Society. — Slave Laws of 
Cuba. — Coflee Plantation. — Tropical A^egetation. — Description 
of the Trees on the Island. — A Vegetable Phenomenon, . 110 



Contents. vii 



LETTER X.— HAVANA. 
Return to Guiues. — A Ludicrous Spectacle. — The Polite Foot- 
l)iid. — Spauisli Mode of Robbery. — A Night with the Insects. 
— A Miserable Posada. — Description of Matanzas. — The 
Cumbre — Scene in the Cathedral. — Cuban Women Graceful. 
— The Contradanza and Pandango.-.-An Evening at Sea. — 
The Southern Cross. — A Startling Adventure, . . .134 

LETTER XL— HAVANA. 
Domestic Habits of the Cubans — Gambling. — Cock and Bull 
Fighting. — A Priest-Fearing but not God-Serving People. — 
Ubi(iuity of Roniauisni. — Sabbath in Havana. — An Ea.ster 
Celebration. — Carrying of the Host. — The Tacon Tiicatre. 
— A Spanish Datiscuse. — My Landlady of the Revere. — 
Bal Masque. — A Saturnalia 15G 

LETTER XIL— HAVANA. 
Religious Intolerance. — Protestant Worship Interdicted. — Ser- 
vices on board a British Man-of-War. — A Marino Choir. — 
U. S. Flag Ship Potomac. — Preaching by a Boston Clergy- 
man. — Closing of Lent. — A Bull Fight. — Private Theatricals. — 
A Midnight Row on the Bay. — Closing Remarks, . . . 172 

LETTER XIIL— KEY WEST. 
An Attack of Illness. — Description of the Key of the Gulf. — 
Coral Insects. — Key Largo. — Amphibious Bipeds. — Wreckers. 
— Climate, Soil, and Productions of the Island of Key West. — 
Indigenous Fruits. — Exotic Plants. — Dr. Henry Perrine. — 
Narrative of the Massacre at Indian Key 189 

LETTER XIV.— SAVANNAH. 
Sea Voyage. — Old Ocean in Good Humor. — Meet with Friends. 
— A Starry Night. — Boreas on a Spree. — Personal Expe- 
riences. — Objections to Sea Life. — Noticeable Passengers. — 
A Slave Trader. — A Cosmopolitan and Disciple of Baron 
Munchau.sen. — An English Cockney Exquisite. — An Uxorious 
Husband. — Mated, but not Matched. — An Amusing Finale, 215 



viii Contents. 



LETTER XV.— MONTGOMERY. 
Description of Savannah. — The City of Shade and Silence. — Its 
Monuments. — Laurel Grove Cemetery. — Buenaventura. — 
Georgians Constitutionally and Climatically Indolent. — The 
Aristocracy of Cottondom. — " Congo" and King Cotton. — ■ 
Macon. — Columbus. — The Falls of Coweta. — An Indian 
Legend, 228 

LETTER XVI.— MONTGOMERY. 
Location of the City. — Its Picturesque Suburbs. — Every Paradise 
has its Serpent. — Decadence of Fogyism. — Ole Bull. — Southern 
Chivalry. — A Dry Subject. — Cotton the Blood of the State. — 
Cost of Living at the South. — Southern Staples. — A North- 
erner's Opinion of Slavery. — Its Objectionable Features. — 
Talk with a Slave, 242 

LETTER XVII.— NASHVILLE. 

Re enter Georgia. — Natural Productions of the State. — A 
Georgia Cracker. — Atlanta. — Hotel with an Appetizing 
Name. — Cool Treatment for Hot Weather. — A Victim. — The 
Rival "Waiters. — Chattanooga. — A Night of Unrest. — Amus- 
ing Provincialisms. — Description of Nashville. — Lions of the 
City. — Its Environs. — Southern Hospitality, . . . 257 

LETTER XVIIL— MAMMOTH CAVE, KY. 

The Cave Hotel. — Magnitude of the Cave. — Its Population. — 
Equipments for the Journey. — Atmosphere Pure and Equable. 
— Body of a Child found. — Hospital for Consumptives. — The 
Grand Gallery. — Church and Ball Room. — Giant's Coffin. — 
Goran's Dome. — Bottomless Pit. — The Scotchman's Trap. — 
Fat Man's Misery. — A Prospective Purgatory. — The Dead Sea. 
— A Cold Collation. — The Mysterious Bottle. — Gothic Avenue. 
— Novel Names of Places. — Lover's Leap. — Star Chamber. — 
Stephen the Guide. — Human Remains found. — River Styx. — 
Lethe. — Musical Echoes. — Pass of El Ghor. — Perilous Laby- 
rinth.— Cleveland's Avenue.— Croghan's Hall.— Nine Miles from 
Daylight.— Eyeless Fish.— Piscatory Phenomena. — Conclusion, 275 



LETTER I. 

"Washikgton, D. C, Ftb., 1856. 
It is customary, I believe, for tourists, and other 
migratory bipeds, to leave their " tracks in ink ;" and 
from the innumerable books of travel which are 
scattered over the land, it would seem as if it were 
imperative on all who wander — to write. My tastes 
are somewhat nomadic, and, although not exactly " a 
bird of passage," I am " often on the wing." Now, 
as you are aware, I am on my way to a southern 
clime, where 

" Milder moons cli«pense serener light, 
And brighter beauties decorate the night," — 

and if ray rambling, desultory letters prove interesting 
to my family and friends, I shall be satisfied. * * * * 
I reached this city two or three days since, in com- 



10 Washington. 

pany with our mutual friends Mr. and Mrs. S , 

and "put up" at the National Hotel, at the request 
of the Ex-M. C. who had made that house his home 
during two Congressional sessions. I shall not attempt 
to give an elaborate or detailed description of the 
" Federal Capital," as it would require more time and 
patience than I have at my command, — but simply 
to note a few impressions of " men and things" sug- 
gested to my mind during my brief sojourn here. 

This has been styled " the city of magnificent 
distances." To me, it appears more like a large, 
unfinished village, laid out on an extensive scale, and 
awaiting completion, than a solid, compactly built 
city of fifty thousand inhabitants. " It is laid out" — 
to use the grandiloquent language of the guide-book, 
— " on a plan of great magnitude ; and will, if the 
design of its founders be carried out, and their anti- 
cipations realized, be a magnificent memorial of the 
great man from whom it is named : and a cit}^, whose 
gigantic proportions shall harmonize with the power 
and extent of the mighty Republic of which it is the 
capital." 

"Washington covers a large extent of territory, and 



The Public Buildings. ii 

would be a beautiful city, if it ivas finished. It is 
extravagant in design, but meagre in execution ; pre- 
tentious, yet simple ; elegant, yet squalid ; large, yet 
small ; rich, yet poor. Its design and architecture are 
abnormal — half city and half village; combining 
many of the elements of the one, with the appearance 
of the other. A city in population and extent, but 
a village in its sparsely built streets, its wide ram- 
bling avenues, its low homely buildings, and tiny 
triangular squares, it has a peculiarly suburban expres- 
sion. Its private residences, with a few exceptions, 
are unattractive in appearance, and insignificant when 
compared with many of the government buildings, 
which, though in an unfinished state, are colossal 
structures, magnificent in their proportions, beautiful 
in design, and noble specimens of American architec- 
ture. The Capitol, when completed, will be, without 
doubt, the finest public edifice in the world. It 
stands on the brow of a hill some seventy feet above 
the Potomac, and, from its elevated position, com- 
mands a view of the city and surrounding country — 
a view probably unsurpassed for variety, beauty, and 
extent, by any in this country. 



12 Washington. 

From the Capitol, which is " the hub" of this poU- 
tical universe, radiate, hke spokes in a wheel, various 
streets and avenues, whose peculiar names comprise 
most of the letters of the alphabet, many of the 
numerals, and all of the original States of the Union. 
Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal thoroughfare, 
extends in a direct line from the " Capitoline Hill" 
to the Treasury Buildings, a distance of nearly a 
mile ; there it makes a short detour^ and continues its 
course, by the Executive Mansion, to the borders of 
Georgetown, which is, in fact, but a suburb of Wash- 
ington. It is a place of but little business, and 
derives its support entirely from the fashionable 
denizens of this metropolis. That part of the city 
where the President's house is situated, is known as 
" the Court End," where most of the aristocracy who 
keep house, reside. The best residences are in this 
vicinity, although but fe\v" of them have any preten- 
sions to exterior beauty. The principal hotels, stores, 
and places of business are on Pennsylvania Avenue, 
a street of great width and well macadamized, afford- 
ing a direct and easy communication between the 
Capitol and the several Departments. 



Its Mixed Society. 13 

It is an indisputable fact that Washington, during 
the winter, contains a greater amount of intelligence, 
vice, beauty, and moral deformity, than any other 
city in the Union. It is a hibernating place for poli- 
ticians, office-seekers, fortune-hunters, gamblers, and 
votaries of fashion and folly. People of almost every 
rank, color, and nation, are here congregated: and 
Dignitaries, both civic and military, with titles real 
or assumed, and persons of known or doubtful repu- 
tation, are to be found here " as thick as birds during 
blackberry time." Governors, senators, generals, 
colonels, diplomats, envoys ordinary and extraor- 
dinary, officers in full-pay, half-pay, and no pay at 
all, judges of probates and reprobates, members of 
the bar and frequenters of the bar-room, bankers 
who preside over the faro-banks and brokers who 
are always "dead broke," besides a liberal sprinkling 
of " the fancy," including " men of muscle" and 
" men of straw." The presiding spirits of the place 
are ardent spirits ; the most popular bank the 
faro-bank ; and to be caught " dealing in ivory," is 
a capital^ but not an indictable offi^nce. The checks 
most in use here are " ivory checks," and the 



14 Washington. 

dealer is not to be mistaken for "the De'il." To 
speak paradoxically, those occupying the highest 
positions are often found in the lowest places ; while 
those who are always tight, are invariably loose in 
their morals. Washington is, in fact, a medley of 
contradictions. Almost everything appertaining to 
it is different from what it seems, and nothing is 
what it appears to be. From the number of hacks 
and carriages standing in the streets, you would 
imagine that every one rode ; yet, from the multitude 
of pedestrians thronging its avenues, it would appear 
that every one walked. The society is ephemeral, 
and the city alternately populous and deserted. One 
month it may be full to overflowing, and the next, 
presenting a mournful illustration of Goldsmith's 
" Deserted Village." One set of inhabitants may 
reside here to-day, and another to-morrow ; they are 
the sport of fortune and politics, and know not whe- 
ther they are here for a day or for a lifetime. 

Washington, though far from being an Eden, is a 
paradise for hotel-keepers and proprietors of small 
boarding-houses: who make their hay in the win- 
ter, when the sun is not expected to shine. During 



Hotel-Life. 



15 



the summer these places are closed or nearly deserted ; 
grass grows before their doors, which is to be 
gathered the next winter, thus reversing the usual 
order of husbandry. These hotels are vast caravan- 
saries — colossal hives, filled with human drones, who 
subsist on government honey, or prey upon each 
other. The " B's " hived here are very numerous, 
consisting, in part, of Benedicts, Bachelors, Belles, 
Beaux, Black-legs, Blue-stockings, and a miscella- 
neous collection of "Bugs," big and little. I had 
supposed that the hig-hngs were confined chiefly to 
the White House and the residences of the aristo- 
cracy. But I discovered my mistake when I took 
possession of my room on the upper floor, which was 
infested with giant cockroaches and other aristocratic 
insects. How they ever attained such an elevation, 
through such a labyrinth of passages, and around so 
many angles, both acute and oblique, was beyond my 
com.prehension, for I was unable to find my way up 
without the assistance of a guide, after having been 
once shown the way. But the instinct of animals is 
sometimes superior to that of the human race. When 
I first arrived at this hotel, I asked for a quiet room, 



1 6 Washington. 

but did not expect to be sent np into the celestial 
regions, so far above " this dim spot which men call 
earth." I retired to rest at the usual hour, and slept 
soundly until about midnight, when I was awakened 
by the sound of voices in an adjoining room. At 
first I supposed them to be students in astronomy, 
who had sought this elevated place where they could 
study the arcana coelestia without the aid of a 
telescope. But I soon discovered, by various noisy 
demonstrations, that they were votaries of a much 
less recondite science, although one that is not often 
investigated without the assistance of a glass. These 
hon-vivants^ if not believers in spiritualism, were at 
least spiriixxoHibf inclined ; and if not free-thinkers, 
they certainly were free-dnnkers, and kept up their 
revels until a late hour. 

I slept very little that night, and arose the next 
morning quite indisposed — that is, indisposed to 
occupy the same room another night. "Went down 

to the office, found Dr. (one of the proprietors), 

to whom I described my symptoms. lie pronounced 
my disease an aggravated room-attic complaint, and 
prescribed as a remedy, " a quiet room on the second 



The President's Levees. 17 

floor." I followed liis advice, and speedily reco- 
vered. 

The society in Washington is ostensibly democra- 
tic, although there is a suiScient mixture of aristo- 
cracy to give it variety. The President is the 
acknowledged representative of the democracy. His 
levees are free to all who desire to attend. A coat 
capacious enough to hide a soiled shirt, a clean collar 
(or none at all), with a little assurance, is the only 
passport necessary to executive hospitality. At these 
semi-monthly reunions, all classes are represented, 
both plebeian and patrician ; the purse-proud million- 
aire and the penniless vagabond ; the foreign count 
and the native artisan ; the stiff upper-crust of society 
and the lower strata of unwashed and unkempt 
humanity. A large and promiscuous multitude 
assemble at the White House on these occasions, to 
pay their individual respects to the Executive and 
ruler of this Republican Court. 



LETTEE II. 

"Washington, Feb., 1856. 
I HAVE just returned from the Capitol, -whicli 
miglit, with propriety, be designated as our national 
menagerie. During the winter it contains a rare but 
somewhat antagonistic collection of zoological speci- 
mens, consisting of beasts of burden and beasts of 
prey, birds with beautiful plumage and birds of ill- 
omen ; and another class, interesting to the ichthyo- 
logical connoisseur, which, from their scaly appear- 
ance, evidently belong to "the finny tribe," — that 
peculiar variety known as " suckers ; " but, having 
been so long out of their native element (although 
frequently "in hot water"), they would fail to recog- 
nise it unless strongly diluted. Among the quadru- 
peds here are the lordly lion, the ferocious tiger, the 
wily fox, the timorous hare, and " dogs of all de- 



Our National Menagerie. 19 

gree," from the noble mastiff to tlie lady's lap-dog 
and the snarling cur. Conspicuous among " the 
feathered animals " is the bright-ejed eagle, " who 
drinks the sunshine, and scales the clouds ; " the 
ghostly owl, shrieking his baneful note; besides 
an indefinite number of pugnacious game-cocks, gab- 
bling geese, and ignoble turkey-buzzards, who subsist 
mainly upon government offal. These incongruous 
quadrupeds and bipeds — both flesh send foul, are here 
in promiscuous confusion ; and, to appearance, are 
much less docile and controllable than that " happy 
family " of birds and animals on exhibition at Bar- 
num's Museum. 

The Senate chamber, to-day, was the scene of an 
intense excitement. That old senatorial lion from 
the wilds of Michigan, who had become grey and 
almost toothless during his long incarceration, was 
aroused from his lair, and, shaking his hoary mane, 
roared so loudly as to produce fearful consternation 
among the lesser animals. It appears that the British 
lion, which had for so many years been lying 
" couchaut," had, for some unexplained cause, sud- 
denly become " rampant," and was now growling and 



20 Washington. 

showing his teeth in anger towards the animals on 
this side of " the big water ; " the news of which had 
just reached the Federal capital. The doughty 
Michigander was belligerently inclined. His speech 
was " full of sound and fury," and signified some- 
ihing^ if one could judge from the significant looks 
of the senators, and the breathless attention with 
which the crowd of spectators in the gallery regarded 
the speaker, as if they considered his inflammable 
remarks the harbinger of a conflict with the mother 
country. I do not, however, anticipate any serious 
trouble with England. It would be suicidal for her 
to engage in war with us at this time, and it is the 
settled policy of our government to maintain peace 
with all nations. 

After having listened for a time to the senator's 
fiery declamation, and fearing that, if I remained 
longer, I might become imbued with warlike senti- 
ments, I repaired to the Hall of Kepresentatives, 
where, as some one has facetiously remarked, " they 
talk without courtesy, and debate without decency." 
With equal truth, he might have added, they chew 
without moderation^ and spit on the carpet without com- 



Scene in the House. 21 

junction. A more undignified and less orderly 
assemblage I scarcely ever saw. Some were loung- 
ing in their chairs, with their feet elevated upon the 
desks before them; others were running here and 
there, or were gathered together in groups, talking 
loudly, and paying no attention to the "member" 
who was then speaking: while a large number were 
at their desks, reading newspapers, writing letters, or 
tearing their manuscripts into small bits and strewing 
them over the floor, which was as untidy and litier- 
ary in its appearance as an editor's sanctum. And 
last, if not least, I observed one gentlemaa (?) with a 
rubicund face and a form of aldermanic proportions 
quietly sleeping in his chair. 

After having listened for a while to the speaker 
who had the floor, and learning that he had been 
holding forth for nearly an hour, I only wondered 
that more of the members were not asleep; for a 
more prosy discourse (I cannot call it a speech) I 
never before heard. It was "linked dulness long 
drawn out." His methodical manner and monotonous 
delivery would have been better suited to an itinerant 
lay-preacher. The gentleman had evidently mistaken 



22 Washington. 

his calhng. On another occasion, I heard a young 
neophyte dehver his "maiden speech" before the 
House ; which was the exact counterpart of the one 
just described. His voice was pleasant, and his man- 
ner easy and graceful, but his style was a little too 
declamatory and flowery for the occasion. At times, 
he would soar into the regions of fancy, — so high 
that I trembled lest he would never get back again 
into this " breathing world." I soon discovered that 
he was more prolific in words than in ideas ; it was 
vox et jprcBierea nihil. He evidently adhered to the 
rule of tlj^e diplomatic Talleyrand, that " words were 
not intended to convey, but to conceal ideas." I left 
during one of his aerial flights, being fearful that 
some accident might befall him in his efforts to return 
to terra-firma. * * * 

As I design, during my absence, to visit the domi- 
nions of Her Catholic Majesty the Queen of Spain, I 
called to-day at the Department of State, to procure 
a passport, taking with me a friend to prove my 
identity — that I was my " individual self," and a 
native of this land of stars and stripes. Fortunately, 
I was not obliged to trace my genealogy from the 



Procuring a Passport. 23 

" martyr'd Joliii," whose existence terminated so 
abruptly at Smithfield; or to show which of the 
illustrious " ten " had the honor to be my progenitor. 
But my body-corporeal was inspected longitudinally 
and latitudinally : — was weighed in a balance, and 
found not to be entirely wanting. For your edification, 
I will copy a portion of this passport : 

" To all to whom these presents shall come. Greet- 
ing : I, the undersigned, Secretary of State of the 
United States of America, hereby request all to whom 
it may concern, to permit safely and freely to pass 

Mr. • , a citizen of the U. S., and in case of need, 

to give him all lawful aid and protection. Given 
under my hand and seal, &c." Signed, "VV. L. Marcy. 

Then follows a description of my "outer man." 
"Stature, five feet ten and a half inches, English 
measure; weight, one hundred and fort3'--two pounds; 
age (I have, I confess, a feminine weakness about 
exposing my age) ; forehead, high ; eyes, blue ; 
nose, straight ; mouth, medium ; chin, small ; hair, 
brown ; complexion, florid ; face, oval." If this is 
a correct portraiture of my "human face and form 
divine," it will answer as the descriptive part of an 



24 Washington. 

advertisement if I am ever strayed or stolen. As copies 
of these passports are in all cases made, and preserved 
in the archives of the department, I shall, hereafter, 
"live in description," if not "look green in song," 

The various public buildings belonging to govern- 
ment, and other objects of interest in and around 
Washington, have been so often delineated with pen 
and pencil, that any attempt on my part to describe 
them would be a profitless undertaking. The most 
imposing buildings here, aside from the Capitol, are 
the Greneral Post Office, the Patent Office, or more 
properly the Department of the Interior, and the 
Treasury Buildings: all of which are now being 
enlarged and otherwise improved. They are large 
and costly structures, and when completed, will be an 
ornament to this City, and a credit to our Govern- 
ment. 

One of the most remarkable buildings here, both 
on account of its great size and its peculiar archi- 
tecture, is the Smithsonian Institution, which was 
erected a short time since, at an expense of over three 
hundred thousand dollars, by the munificence of a 
private individual — a foreigner, who had never, that 



Smithsonian Institution. 25 

I could learn, visited this country. In the year 
eighteen'hundred and twenty-eight or nine, an Eng- 
lish gentleman of wealth and education, by the name 
of James Smithson — the supposed illegitimate son of 
the first Duke of Northumberland — died, bequeath- 
ing hi« entire property, exceeding half a million of 
dollars, to the United States, for the purpose of 
establishing in this city an Institution to be devoted 
to Science, Literature, Art, and every other branch 
of knowledge by which mankind might be benefited. 
Congress accepted the bequest, and the money was 
received into the Treasury in 1888. But several 
years elapsed before a law was passed for the establish- 
ment of the Institution as it now exists. By this 
delay, the Regents were enabled to erect the present 
magnificent edifice from the interest which had 
accrued, leaving the whole amount originally be- 
queathed, to be applied as expressed in the testator's 
will. 

The building, or rather, series of buildings (for 
it covers several acres of ground, and looks from a 
distance like a walled town), is constructed of a 
reddish-grey sandstone, which is said to be quite soft 



26 Washington. 

when it is first quarried, but becomes bard after a 
sbort exposure to the atmosphere. The architecture 
of this building is peculiar. It is a combination of 
the Gothic, Norman, and other styles of the Feudal 
ages, and is entirely different from any other struc- 
ture in this country. Its numerous turrets and towers ; 
its massive walls ; its battlemented cornices ; its heavy 
buttresses, and its other mural projections, give it the 
appearance of great durability, and are suggestive of 
a grand old castle of the olden-time. 

It is surrounded by a highly improved park of about 
fifty acres, which was laid out by the late A, J. Down- 
ing, whose sad death occurred before it was completed. 
The length of the entire building, including the 
library, picture-gallery, and laboratory attached, is 
four hundred and fifty feet. The main building is 
about one hundred and sixty feet deep, and its wings 
are of various dimensions. On the first floor is the 
museum, which occupies a room two hundred feet 
long, by fifty wide, and twenty five feet high, with a 
spacious gallery extending round the whole interior. 
On the floor above is the lecture-room, where lectures 
on scientific and literary subjects are given during the 



Washington Monument. 27 

winter. It is an immense room, capable of seating 
nearly two thousand persons. The museum contains 
a large and valuable collection of curiosities from all 
parts of the globe, which, together with the well 
stocked library of rare and ancient works, and the 
extensive gallery of paintings and statuary, are 
objects of interest to the scholar, the artist, and the 
antiquarian. 

A short distance from here is the celebrated Wash- 
ington Monument, which, when completed, will be 
the highest work of art in the world. It is to be six 
hundred feet high ; nearly three times the height of 
the Bunker Hill Monument, once and a half as high 
as St. Paul's Cathedral, and more than a hundred feet 
higher than the great Egyptian Pyramid of Cheops. 
But appearances indicate that it will be many years 
before this inchoate memorial of a great, good man, 
will be finished. 

During a brief visit to the Navy Yard on the Poto- 
mac, I was shown, by the officer in command, two old 
French brass field-pieces, whose history is so romantic 
that I deem it worthy of mention. They were long- 
eighteen-pounders, exactly alike in every particular, 



28 Washington. 

and from the inscriptions upon them it appears that 
thej were both cast at Douay, a city in France, in 
July, 1740. One, called " Le Yigoreux," came into 
the possession of our Government during Jefferson's 
administration, at the time Louisiana was ceded to us 
by France, and was included in the purchase. The 
other, " Le Belliqueux," was taken from the Mexi- 
cans, at Alvarado, in 1847, and recently brought to 
this place, where, after a probable separation of more 
than a century, these twin-messengers of war were 
reunited, and now stand side by side. Near them 
were two Spanish brass thirty-two-pounders, which 
were captured by Captain Stephen Decatur, at Tripoli, 
in the year 1804. 



LETTEE III. 

Richmond, Va., Feb. 1856, 
The capital of the " Old Dominion" is distinctively 
a southern city. It has a population of about thirty- 
five thousand, and once enjoyed a ■wide-world cele- 
brity for the wealth, refinement, and high culture of 
its society. It is situated on James River (formerly 
known by the more euphonious name of Powaton), a 
stream of not much magnitude, but of considerable 
importance to the manufacturing and commercial in- 
terests of the city, as it affords a valuable water-power, 
and is navigable for vessels of small tonnage a dis- 
tance of nearly a hundred and fifty miles from the ocean. 
The city occupies a boldly diversified and beauti- 
fully picturesque location. It extends along the steep 
banks of the river, and over a series of hills, from 
whose elevated summits the views are singularly varied 



30 Richmond. 

and beautiful. Its physical aspect and general appear- 
ance are said to be somewhat like those of Edinburgh. 
It has almost as many hills as ancient Rome; but 
whether it bears any other resemblance to the " Eter- 
nal City" I am unable to say. These hills have been 
designated as the " poetry of Nature." They may be 
poetical to one who has a carriage always at his com- 
mand ; but if dependent on his own powers of loco- 
motion, he will, I imagine, become so weary by the 
time he reaches the top, as to be quite insensible to 
their poetry ; such, at least, was my experience. 

The finest private residences, and many of the pub- 
lic buildings, are on Shockoe Hill — the aristocratic 
part of the town — which overlooks the business por- 
tion of the city, and commands a fine view of the sur- 
rounding country. 

The Capitol stands in a public square or park, near 
which I saw a massive pedestal of granite, waiting to 
receive an equestrian statue of Washington, by Craw- 
ford, not yet completed. The Capitol, from its size 
and elevated location, is the most conspicuous object 
in Richmond ; and, in the distance, has a noble and 
classical appearance. A nearer approacli, however, 



Its Architecture. 31 

disrobes it of that enchantment which distance ever 
lends to the view. It is an imposing looking edifice, 
of the Anglo-Grecian order of architecture, but, at 
present, in a state of dilapidation unworthy the first 
public building in the time-honored and aristocratic 
state of Virginia. There are many old, distinguished 
looking residences in Richmond, and several of the 
streets are broad, and bordered with beautiful trees; 
yet the city has not a bright and cheerful look. There 
is an apparent lack of thrift, and a want of paint and 
complete repair, so essential to the beauty of a place. 
Notwithstanding these architectural defects, and the 
questionable morality of the city (which is a hot-bed 
of slave-culture, where the ebony species are exten- 
sively cultivated for market), it possesses many attrac- 
tions for the northern traveller, and I feel well repaid 
for my visit. 

I observed while here, for the first time since leav- 
ing home, indications of the approach of spring, and 
evidences of my proximity to a warmer zone. Many 
kinds of half-hardy shrubs and plants had been 
removed from their hibernal quarters, and were 
giving evidence of returning life ; while tlie magnolia 



32 



Richmond. 



and other semi-tropical trees, which grow here with- 
out protection during the winter, had burst their 
buds, and were fast becoming clothed with verdure. 
Observing a tree of singular appearance in one of the 
streets through which I was passing, I turned to a 
good-natured, intelligent looking mulatto standing 
near, and inquired the name. "Why, Massa," said 
he, respectfully removing his hat and scratching his 
head, to stir up his ideas, or something else ; " why, 
Massa, I disremembers 'zackly his name, but he's a 
kind of Healenly tree." It proved to be an uncom- 
monly large specimen of the Ailantus, or Tree of 
Heaven, which I failed to recognise on account of its 
unusual size. 

During my wanderings about the city I discovered 
many features in animate as well as in inanimate 
nature, that were peculiarly southern. The general 
appearance and habits of the colored population, their 
peculiar dialect, and the nondescript vehicles and 
appendages used to bring their products to market, 
were to me quite novel and amusing. Nearly all the 
carriages that I saw here, even the most pretentious, 
were oddly constructed, and had an old-fogyish and 



Peculiar Vehicles. 33 

somewhat dilapidated appearance. Oar poorest back- 
woodsman' would not allow his family to appear 
abroad in as shabby a conveyance as I saw while 
here, filled with well dressed ladies from the country. 
The planters generally come to town on horse or 
mule-back, frequently accompanied by their wives 
and daughters, who seem to prefer that primitive 
mode of locomotion. I learn that it is not unusual 
for the daughters of farmers and planters of small 
means, to come to the city in a cart drawn by oxen, 
accompanied by a plantation negro, with his long 
hickory "gad," who officiates in the double capacity 
of postillion and beau. After having secured the 
bovines, and given them their quantum of fodder, he 
accompanies the ladies on their shopping expedition 
— a kind of male Duenna, to carry their bundles and 
keep off the "sparks," 

Some of the market-women rode in rude antiquated 
carts drawn by sleepy-looking donkeys, so small, that 
no part of them was visible from behind, except the 
tips of their enormous ears from above, and their 
quadrupedal extremities below. These tiny crea- 
tures make up in strength and endurance what they 



34 Richmond. 

lack in size, and are valuable for their longevity, and 
the scanty aliment they require to sustain life. The 
harness is generally more primitive in its appearance 
than the vehicle itself, being nothing more than a 
simple breast-strap with a band across the back to 
support the thills. The rope traces are often so 
broken and knotted as to look insecure, and the small 
cord, substituted for reins, so slender as apparently to 
be inadequate to guide the stubborn animal. In one 
of those cumbrous vehicles was an old negro woman 
perched on a high seat, with her black and wrinkled 
face half shaded by an enormous calico turban, which 
crowned her head. She was complacently smoking a 
corn-cob pipe, and apparently speculating as to the 
probable quantity of " tea, sugar, and 'baccy" to be 
procured from the sale of her load of eggs, poultry, 
and vegetables. 

It is no unusual thing to see negro women wheel- 
ing hand-barrows in the streets, filled with boxes, 
wood, and other articles. A strap suspended from 
their shoulders was fastened to each handle of the 
barrow, which lessened somewhat the labor; still I 
could not but think it an unsuitable employment for 



A StifF-Necked Race. 35 

women, whether black or white, bond or free. A 
slightly formed and delicate-looking negro girl passed 
me in the street, carrying on her head an immense 
wooden tray loaded with provisions, the weight of 
which would have dislocated the neck of the most 
sturdy of the Anglo-Saxon race. But she moved 
trippingly along, with folded arms and a smiling face, 
as if unconscious of the weight she sustained, proving 
conclusively that the descendants of Ham are " a stiff- 
necked" if not a rebellious race. 

While at Richmond, I made the acquaintance of an 
intelligent New Yorker, who had been a resident of 
Virginia a number of years, and was familiar with her 
history, government, and peculiar institutions. He 
acknowledged, and at the same time lamented, the 
decadence of the Old Dominion, which, less than half 
a century ago, was first in rank and the most influ- 
ential among the original states, while now she occu- 
pies but a fifth-rate position among her more numerous 
sisterhood. The golden age of this Alma-Mater of 
States has passed away, never more, I fear, .to return. ' 
She has fallen from her high position, and is no 
longer " the bright particular star" in our National 



36 Richmond. 

firmament. A country more eloquent in heroic his- 
tory, or a society more cultivated and refined than 
once existed in Richmond, and other populous places 
in this state, cannot now be found. The high-toned 
chivalry and unafiected hospitality of Virginians of 
the olden time has become historical, and is as fami- 
liar to us all as household-words. But this " mother 
of states and statesmen" has wonderfully degenerated. 
Her brilliancy has become dimmed, and her glory 
has departed. Where are her illustrious descend- 
ants, the worthy representatives of her noble ances- 
tors? Where her heroes, her statesmen, and her 
orators ? — her Washingtons, her Jeficrsons, her Madi- 
sons, her Henries, and other noble names revered in 
history, and embalmed in the hearts of their coun- 
trymen ? Alas ! where are they, and on whom have 
their mantles fallen ? Who are now her represent- 
ative statesmen ? Who her heroes and her orators ? 
A Tyler, a Hunter, a Wise, a Prior, and a few other 
" lesser lights," which are as spots on the sun, when 
compared with those brilliant luminaries which once 
shone in our Nation's horizon. 

This state no longer sustains the high national, poll- 



A Sad Retrospection. 37 

tical, and social reputation it once so eminently en- 
joyed. Her politicians and representative men are 
wanting in vigor of intellect, stability of character, 
and many of those moral qualifications so essential 
to the prosperity and greatness of a state or nation. 
Her "first families," those belonging to the ancient 
regime, and who boast of a noble lineage, are no 
longer living in wealth and luxury. Their estates 
have become decayed and apparently valueless, from 
want of proper care and cultivation : some have been 
obliged to sell their best lands, and part with their 
most valuable family servants, until they have become 
reduced from princely opulence to comparative indi- 
gence ; while many of their aristocratic descendants 
are now living in genteel poverty, with but little left 
save " the prideful recollections of ancestral name 
and honors." This is a mournful retrospection, but 
nevertheless true. * ^ * 

The soil of Virginia, which was once rich and pro- 
ductive, has become impoverished, literally worn out, 
by unskilful husbandry and the improvident cultiva- 
tion of tobacco. This is particularly the case in the 
eastern part of the State, a large portion of which 



38 Richmond. 

now lies in open uncultivated fields and sterile com- 
mons ; while Western Virginia, if not advancing with 
a rapidity equalling that of many of the Northern 
States, is evidently improving, and with her almost 
inexhaustible mineral resources, her invigorating cli- 
mate, and her comparatively productive soil, will con- 
tinue to improve, if her agriculturists will abandon 
the cultivation of tobacco and turn their attention 
to crops. that will enrich, rather than exhaust the soil. 
Western Virginia has suflScient territory and abun- 
dant mineral and agricultural wealth for an indepen- 
dent state; and could she get rid of her improvident 
" other half," which has long been an incubus on her 
body-politic, and an impediment to her National pros- 
perity, she would, I opine, soon attain a distinguished 
position in the sisterhood of States. This is a con- 
summation greatly desired by many of her intelligent 
citizens, who dislike being subjected to the will and 
caprice of a class of designing politicians and quasi- 
aristocrats, who control the state, and who evidently 
care more for political power and personal aggran- 
dizement, than for the prosperity and well-being of 
her one-and-a-half-million of inhabitants. * * * 



LETTEE IV. 

Charleston, S. C, March 1, 1856. 

I AM now in the aristocratic and picturesque metro- 
polis of the " Old Carolina State," where I expect to 
remain until the 4th instant, when I shall take my 
departure for ** La Belle Cuba," as the Cubans lov- 
ingly designate their beautiful island. Our state- 
rooms are already secured on board of the steamer 
Isabel, and in forty-eight hours (health and weather 
permitting) we shall be gliding over the capricious 
waters of " the deep, blue sea." 

The evening wc arrived here was as mild and 
balmy as a northern June. Overcoats were laid aside, 
and fires dispensed with. The weather was really 
delightful, and we enjoyed it the more, having so re- 
cently come from the snow-clad and ice-bound regions 
of the frigid north. Bat how little do we know what 



40 Charleston. 

a day or a night will bring forth, or what changes 
may take place in the temperature, from the setting 
to the risiner of the sun. When I awoke the next 

O 

morning, it was cold and cheerless ; the heavens were 
clothed in black and weeping piteously. The storm 
raged without cessation for nearly two days, during 
which time I remained as closely imprisoned within 
doors as a leg-chained convict. The weather is now 
looking more propitious, and Old Sol, by way of en- 
couragement, gives us an occasional glimpse of his 
bright and ruddy face peering from among the half- 
threatening clouds which now and then obscure the 
horizon. 

While waiting for Dame Nature to put on a more 
cheerful aspect, to exchange her tears for smiles, I 
will give a brief outline of my two days' journey from 
Richmond to this city. Nothing occurred worthy of 
mention until we reached Wilmington, the most popu- 
lous town in North Carolina, where we spent the night. 
This state does not appear to be in as flourishing a 
condition as some of the other Southern States. She 
evidently feels the need of a large commercial city, 
which would afford a market for her agricultural pro- 



North Carolina. 41 

ductions, and a place of shipment for her vast mineral 
treasures : although her recently constructed rail- 
roads have in some measure repaired this deficiency. 
Her progress has been somewhat retarded by the emi- 
gration of her young men, which has impaired the 
enterprise, but not the virtues of her society. In a 
moral sense, she is " the noblest Eoman" of them 
all. She owes no debts, and will not incur any.* 
Her paths are the paths of prudence, if plenty does 
not always follow in her footsteps. Her people are 
honest, frugal, and unsophisticated : and if she is 
deficient in some of the characteristics of her aristo- 
cratic but erratic sister, South Carolina, she is less 
sensitive and meddlesome in her disposition, and has 
more ennobling qualities of head and heart. 

The western portion of North Carolina is moun- 
tainous, and not very well adapted to agriculture ; but 
its mountains are rich in minerals, particularly in 
gold, copper, iron, and coal. The principal agricul- 
tural productions of this State are Indian-corn, hemp, 

' * This was the case a few years ago, before she had built any 
railroads ; but, according to the last census, the debt of the 
state was about $3,000,000. 



42 Charleston. 

tobacco, and sweet-potatoes, although many kinds 
of grain are also grown here to a considerable ex- 
tent. On some of the low-lands cotton is raised in 
limited quantities, but by no means as extensively as 
in the Grulf States, where " cotton is king," and the 
fleecy product holds dominion and unlimited sway 
over nearly two millions of her ivilling subjects, and 
over about as many who are her subjects from com- 
pulsion, not from choice. 

The -coast along the eastern part of the State 
abounds in almost interminable swamps, interspersed 
with shallow sounds or lagoons. The country a little 
further inland is sandy and covered with extensive 
forests of pine, known as " pine barrens," which are 
appropriately named, as they appear to be barren of 
all vegetable productions except tar, resin, and tur- 
pentine. The modus operandi of gathering and manu- 
facturing these articles is as follows : A notch is cut 
in the trunk of the tree near the ground to receive 
the turpentine as it oozes from the bark which is 
scarified above. As soon as the cavity becomes full, 
it is dipped out and deposited in barrels. This pro- 
cess of scarifying is repeated year after year, by ex- 



Wilmington, N. C. 43 

tending tbe incisions higher up the trunk, until the 
wounded tree dies from exhaustion, when it is cut 
down and consigned to the tar-kihi. The spirit is 
extracted from the crude turpentine by distillation, and 
sent to market in the different forms of resin and spirits 
of turpentine. There were thousands of barrels of 
these odorous commodities scattered along the road, and 
piled up at every station, and for miles around their 
places of distillation the air was filled with the perfume. 
Wilmington is on the Cape Fear river, thirty-four 
miles from the ocean, and has a population of about 
ten thousand, including slaves. It is a place of some 
manufacturing importance, as it contains a number of 
rice-mills, turpentine distilleries, and machine-shops, 
besides several large steam saw-mills, which turn out 
each year between thirty and forty million feet of 
lumber. Two or three small steamers ply regularly 
between this city and Charleston, and a number are 
employed on the river, which is navigable for steam- 
boats to Fay€tteville, a distance of one hundred and 
twenty miles, and for barges and vessels of light 
draught to the iron and coal regions far into the 
interior of the State. 



44 Charleston. 

"We remained at Wilmington but a single night, 
which, however, was long enough, considering its very 
indifferent hotel accommodations. The house was quite 
full when we arrived, which, perhaps, was the reason 
our party were obliged to occupy such very inferior 
rooms for the night. After tea I strolled through 
some of the principal streets, but was far from being 
favorably impressed with the beauty of the place or 
the enterprise of the inhabitants. The streets were 
badly lighted, but sufficiently so to show their imper- 
fect sanitary condition, and to reveal many defects in 
the arrangement and general appearance of the city. 

The next morning we crossed the river to take the 
cars for Charleston. On the ferry-boat were thirty or 
forty slaves — men and women, chained together in 
gangs, and accompanied by their owner or overseer. 
They were being taken to the slave-mart in this city, to 
be sold at auction to the highest bidder. It was a sad 
yet novel sight to me, as it was the first time that 
I had ever seen these human chattels fettered, and 
driven like so many animals to market. The women 
were sad-looking creatures, who seemed to realize to 
some extent their debased and degraded condition ; 



New Acquaintances. 45 

but the men had a stolid look, as if devoid of sensi- 
bility, and were, to all appearance, as unconcerned 
and indifferent to their fate, as a flock of sheep on 
their way to the butcher's shambles. -^ 

On the cars we found several agreeable persons 
from the North, who, like us, were en route to the 
Tropics, in pursuit of health or pleasure. Being all 
northern men with northern principles, we soon be- 
came acquainted, and formed a pleasant little coterie 
among ourselves. This was quite fortunate, for us^t 
least, as the country through which we passed was 
entirely devoid of interest, and the weather anything 
but pleasant. We had proceeded but a few miles, 
when our engine (an asthmatic, rickety old concern, 
which had been used up at the North and sent South 
to recuperate), began to give evidence of a want of 
vitality. After several spasmodic efforts at loco- 
motion, it stopped moving, gave a few convulsive 
shrieks, and yielded up the ghost. Before our pa- 
tience had become entirely exhausted, we were over- 
taken by a freight train, which, " like a wounded 
snake, dragged its slow length along," and propelled 
us to the next station, where we arrived about mid- 



4^ Charleston. 

nigbt, some ten or twelve hours behind time. As the 
cars that we occupied were to leave on another road, 
which intersected at this station, the passengers des- 
tined for Charleston were obliged to remain there 
until the arrival of another train the next morning. 

The night was not very cold, yet the mercury 
in our mental thermometer went suddenly down to 
zero, on being informed that the only lodging-house 
in that vicinity could not accommodate a dozen per- 
sons, while we had here " on deposit," two car-loads 
of white bipeds, besides a score or two of the descend- 
ants of Ham. On reaching the house, we found that 
there were just beds enough for the ladies of our 
party and their respective " lords ;" consequently the 
despondent majority began to look about for some 
place to horizontalize during the remainder of the 
night. A few were fortunate enough to secure two 
chairs; others, in despair, talked of removing the 
carpet from the floor to find the softest board upon 
which to lay their weary bodies. Anticipating the 
result, I early took possession of a small lounge in the 
parlor ; wrapping my shawl about me, and pillowing 
my head on my satchel, I tried to compose myself to 



An Incident. 47 

sleep ; but in vain, " tlie mirth grew fast and furious," 
and communion with. " Nature's sweet restorer, 
balmy sleep," was out of the question. While debat- 
ing in my mind what course to pursue, a gentleman 
of our party came to where I was lying, and informed 
me soito voce, that there was an unoccupied bed in the 
room taken by himself and wife, and if I would wait 
until they had retired, I could come and take pos- 
session of it. I gladly accepted the invitation, and 
notwithstanding the peculiar delicacy of my posi- 
tion, soon wandered off " into the land of dreams." 
We reached this city the next evening without any 
further accident or detention, and took rooms at the 
Charleston Hotel — the Astor of the South ; where, 
for the first time since we left Washington, I have 
enjoyed the luxury of a good meal, and a night of 
uninterrupted sleep. 



LETTER V. 

Charleston, March 3, 1856. 

I HAVE been occupied the entire day with a 
resident friend, in familiarizing myself with this 
city and its environs, and am better fitted for com- 
muning with Morpheus, or some other sleepy indi- 
vidual^ than for holding epistolary converse with 
absent friends. But the steamer is advertised to 
leave at six in the morning, and I must write now 
or not at all. 

I am somewhat disappointed in the topography 
and general appearance of Charleston. Its territory 
is very much circumscribed, and its narrow streets, 
with its quaint-looking buildings, impart to it an air 
of quiet and gloom. Occupying a low, narrow strip 
of land at the confluence of the Cooper and Ashley 
rivers, which combine to form its harbor, the city, 



The Battery. 49 

from a distance, appears as if it was half submerged 
in water. Like aquatic Venice — 

" Throned on her hundred isles — 
She looks a sea-Cybele, fresh from ocean, 
Rising Avith her tiara of proud towers." 

The streets are generally narrow, but regularly laid 
out, and bordered with the Pride of India and other 
semi-tropical trees. The finest private residences here 
are built of brick, and covered with stucco. They 
are generally set back some distance from the street, 
and surrounded by high open verandas, which are 
covered with vines and creeping plants. I was sur- 
prised to see so few public parks within the limits of 
the city. The only one worth mentioning is the 
Battery — a broad belt of land, sparsely covered with 
half-grown shade-trees — which extends for quite a 
distance along the margin of the bay. Fronting on 
this promenade are many handsome residences, with 
spacious gardens attached, belonging to wealthy citi- 
zens. The Battery is a favorite resort of the inhabi- 
tants during the summer season, especially in the 
cool of the evenino;, when the air is laden with in- 



50 Charleston. 

vigorating sea-breezes, which are wafted up the bay 
from the ocean a few miles distant. In another part 
of the city, near the Military Academy, is a public 
square of several acres, which is used principally for 
military parades. Being almost entirely destitute of 
shade-trees and other natural attractions, it is not a 
popular resort of the citizens. 

Charleston is one of the oldest cities in the Union, 
and is replete with historical associations and revolu- 
tionary reminiscences. It has quite a number of 
churches, many of them old and unarchitectural ; a 
fine public library ; numerous religious charitable 
associations; a college; a Military Academy, and 
other institutions, where they " teach the young idea 
how to shooV^ This city, for many years, has been 
called " the Athens of the South," on account of hav- 
ing produced and fostered so many distinguished 
statesmen, poets, and philosophers. Its patrician fa- 
milies, those native to the soil, have the reputation of 
being intelligent, refined, and decidedly aristocratic. 
They are proud and imperious in their bearing, yet 
courteous and graceful in their hospitalities, retaining 
in an eminent degree many of the peculiarities of the 



Southern Chivalry. 51 

French Huguenots, from whom they are descended. 
They are, in fact, hving types of the ancient regime^ 
genuine southerners by birth and feeling, and true 
representatives of southern society. They have but 
little taste for commercial or mechanical pursuits, 
and are not at all imbued with that spirit of progress 
and go-ahead-ativeness so prevalent at the North. 
There are many northern men residing here, but 
southern prejudice, yclept chivalry, is not inclined 
to yield to northern innovations, or to adopt northern 
improvements. "With them, pure blood is a great 
desideratum, whether in biped or quadruped, in the 
human or equine species. They trace their own gene- 
alogy back for centuries, and their horses have a 
pedigree almost as long, and as free from admixture 
with plebeian blood. It is said, with how much 
truth I cannot say, that there are more families here 
of noble lineage, and a greater number of thorough- 
bred horses, than can be found in any other city in 
the Union. 

The young men belonging to the " first families " 
here, have the reputation of being refined in their 
manners, indolent in their habits, but capricious, sen- 



5'2 Charleston. 

sitive, and quick to resent an insult, whether real or 
imaginary. They are proud of their ancestry, and 
love to be called South Caro-Zm-ians, which is their 
synonym for " pure and undefiled," as they affect to 
believe everything plebeian which does not emanate 
from the " Palmetto State." Many of them are 
liberally educated, yet but few are as well versed in 
useful literature and the sciences as in those southern 
accomplishments 

" of riding, fencing, gunnery, 



And how to scale a fortress — or a nunnery.'' 

They are superior horsemen, expert billiard players, 
capital shots, and well skilled in the use of the short- 
sword. They are also punctilious as to the rules of 
etiquette, jealous of their honor, and ready at all 
times to give or receive satisfaction according to the 
code of the " duello." 

Charleston has long been celebrated for its superior 
horses and elegant equipages, and I expected to see 
the streets alive with dashing " turnouts," aristocratic 
vehicles, and sporting men with fast horses. But I 
learned, on inquiry, that it was too early in the sea- 



Rice Plantations, ^3 

son for much of an equestrian display. It appears 
that this city is by for the most populous and gay 
during the summer, as the aristocracy here reverse 
the usual custom at the North, of spending the win- 
ter in the city, and the summer in the country. Most 
of the wealthy planters residing within twenty or 
thirty miles of the city, have residences in town, 
where they and their families remain during the heat 
of the summer ; for at that time it would not be pru- 
dent for any one to remain long on a rice plantation. 
The land devoted to the cultivation of rice is low, 
level, and contiguous to some small stream or water- 
course, as it is necessary to overflow these rice-fields 
at certain seasons of the year. This produces a mala 
rious atmosphere, which is almost fatal to the unaccli- 
mated. It is deemed extremely hazardous for any 
white person to remain over night on these planta- 
tions during the malaria season, although the negroes 
are exempt from its deleterious influence. 

The country around Charleston is generally too 
level and monotonous to be really beautiful, yet 
there are a number of pleasant drives, and many 
interesting places in the vicinity. On the banks of 



54 - ' Charleston. 

the Cooper river,, two or three miles distant, is the 
Magnolia Cemetery. This ** city of the dead " was 
once a private estate, bearing the appropriate name of 
"Magnolia Umbra." It is a quiet, lovely spot, with 
its mingled woods and waters ; its silence and shade ; 
its patriarchal oaks and noble magnolias ; its mourn- 
ful cypresses and fragrant jasmines. Within its 
sacred precincts, " wrapped in the shades of peaceful 
quietude," was heard no sound. 



• no voice 



Save what still Nature in her worship breathes, 
And that unspoken lore with which the dead 
Do commune with the living." 

Many of the trees, particularly the cypress, are 
covered with a species of lichen, or moss, which 
hangs in graceful festoons from the highest branches, 
completely shrouding them with its gossamer drapery. 
This is a singular-looking plant, and is supposed to 
derive its sustenance chiefly from the air. It has a 
small, slender stem, not larger than a thread, which is 
thickly covered with delicate frost-colored leaves, and 
seems particularly fitted to adorn the trees of ceme- 



Suburban Celebrities. 55 

teries. Its sombre hue, and waving, pendulum-like 
motion, as it yields to the slightest breeze, impart to 
Nature a funereal aspect. This species of lichen is 
indigenous to this climate, and cannot be made to 
withstand the severity of our northern winters. 

In the vicinity of this city are several places which 
are interesting on account of the historical associations 
connected with them. The capacious harbor or 
bay, extending a distance of some seven miles to the 
ocean, is strongly fortified, and was the scene" of 
several sanguinary conflicts during the Eevolution. 
Castle Pinckney occupies a shoal about two miles 
from the city. A little beyond is Fort Sumter, con- 
sidered by military engineers to be one of the strongest 
fortifications in the United States. It is built upon 
an artificial island composed of broken stones and 
refuse chips of granite from northern quarries. It 
cost our government half a million of dollars to pre- 
pare this island for the present fortification, which 
will cost as much more when completed. Not far 
from here is Sullivan's Island, on which stands Fort 
Moultrie, of Revolutionary fame ; although, I believe 
prior to the Revolution it was known as Fort Sulli- 



56 Charleston. 

van, but changed to Moultrie after the bravery dis- 
played by that officer in defending the city from the 
British fleet in 1776. This island has become quite 
a fashionable watering-place, and a popular resort for 
southerners during the summer. It has a large hotel 
called the Moultrie House, and is said to rival New- 
port and Cape May in the beauty and extent of its 
hard, pebbly beach, and in the superior excellence 
of its sea-bathing. 

I have had but little opportunity, as yet, to study 
the physical character of the Palmetto State, or to 
examine into the moral condition of her people. 
Her political heresies are well known to the world, 
and her proneness to " sedition, privy conspiracy and 
rebellion," has sadly tarnished her reputation as a 
state. Her representative men have evidently paid 
less attention to her internal improvements, and the 
development of her vast natural resources, than to 
" the discussion of political subtleties," and the engen- 
dering of intestinal strife and discord between the 
states. It is a well known fact that this belligerent 
little state, this hot-bed of secession and nullification, 
has caused " Uncle Samuel" — that respectable father 



A Dyspeptic State. j;^ 

of thirty-three children, and one in expectancy more 
trouble and anxiety than all the rest of his numerous 
family. She is a proud, capricious little bantling, 
erratic in her disposition, impatient of restraint, and 
with decided revolutionary proclivities; and further- 
more, has made several unsuccessful attempts to 
break the family compact, and set up house-keeping 
on her own hook. She has at times exhibited 
symptoms of lunacy ; but a short confinement in a 
strait-jacket, with a few cooling applications to the 
brain, according to the Jacksonian mode of treatment, 
caused a speedy recovery. But she is evidently not 
in good health, being subject to periodical attacks of 
dyspepsia — a disease which attacks communities as 
well as individuals, and is often produced by antago- 
nistic causes ; sometimes by too great a flow of bile, 
and at others by a want of that necessary element in 
the animal economy. I should not be surprised if 
Miss Carolina (who is becoming quite advanced in 
years) should, in a sudden fit of indigestion, commit 
some rash act, and perhaps wander away from the 
paternal mansion. But she is too much of a valetu- 
dinarian to long take care of herself, and, in all pro- 



j;8 Charleston. 

bability, after subsisting for a while on a rice-water 
diet, with the few crumbs of discomfort that she may 
pick "lip during her wanderings, she will return, and, 
like the Prodigal Son, beg to be received again into 
the family of her paternal ancestor. 

But a truce to this metaphor. Time wanes, and 
I must no longer burn the midnight gas, but try and 
get a little sleep, preparatory to my early departure 
in the morning for Cuba's " promised land." The 
mail this evening brought me letters of introduction 
from friends in New York to several influential 
Americans residing in Havana, Matanzas, and Car- 
• denas, which may be of service to me during my visit 
to those places. My passport has been viseed by the 
Spanish Consul residing here, my ticket procured, 
stateroom engaged, trunk packed, and I have nothing 
to do now, but " to wrap the drapery of my couch 
about me, and lie down to pleasant dreams." * * * 



LETTER VI. 

Hotel Revere, Havana, March 10, 1856. 
I AM at last in Cuba, that " fast-ancliored isle," 
known in Castilian poetry as the Queen of the An- 
tilles ; and everything around me appears so novel, 
so entirely unlike what I have ever seen before, 
that I can scarcely believe my identity. Havana 
realizes my idea of an old Moorish town, with its 
moss-covered turrets, its crumbling walls, its narrow 
streets, and its oddly constructed buildings of various 
colors, which have become dimmed by time or expo- 
sure, imparting to them a venerable and somewhat dila- 
pidated appearance. As to the inhabitants, I hardly 
know how to describe them. They are certainly the 
quaintest, queerest, and in many respects the most 
outre specimens of animated nature that I have ever 
seen. The language of the lower classes is apparently 



6o Havana. 

an admixture of miserable Spanish, more miserable 
French, and most miserable English. Their speech is 
rapid, accompanied with vehement gesticulations, and 
sounds very strange to Anglo-Saxon ears. Pure Cas- 
tilian undoubtedly is spoken by the higher and better 
educated classes ; but being ignorant of the language, 
and without the opportunity or inclination to form 
their acquaintance, I shall not have the pleasure of 
criticising the purity of their style or the beauty and 
correctness of their idiom. 

My " ideas of society " here are as yet vague arid 
undefined. Images of half-naked negroes, sleek and 
adipose ; — of swarthy officials, redolent of cigar-smoke 
and garlic ; — of huge- wheeled volantes, with liliputian 
steeds and sable postillions ; — of small-sized, thin- vis- 
aged senors; — of dark-eyed, plump senoritas; — toge- 
ther with military parades and priestly pageantry, 
form the impressions most distinctly daguerreotyped 
on my mind during a three days' residence in this city 
of one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. 

We approached this island on the morning of the 
7th, just as day was breaking. Our gallant steamer 
moved slowly towards the mouth of the harbor, await- 



Moro Castle. 61 

ing the signal to enter, for no vessels are allowed to 
pass the Moro between the setting and rising of the 
sun. As we neared the ramparts, a bright light gilded 
the eastern horizon, and " Old Sol " slowly emerged 
from his briny bed, and allowed " the light of his 
countenance" to illumine the scene before us. The 
loud roar of a cannon came booming over the water, 
and instantly, as if touched by the magician's wand, 
the Spanish flag was unfurled from the lofty tower of 
Moro Castle. Other flags and signals appeared simul- 
taneously in different parts of the city, apprising the 
Hahaneros that an American vessel was approaching. 
We passed close to the beetling walls of the castle, 
whose massive battlements are as grey and old and 
gloomy as a fortress of feudal times ; while the long 
rows of open-mouthed guns looked down defiantly 
upon us as we moved silently along in its shadow. On 
the other side of the entrance, and within gun-shot, 
stands the small fort of La Punta, which was once 
strongly fortified, but is now used only as a garrison 
or prison. The heights beyond the Moro, overlook- 
ing the city and harbor, are covered by the extensive 
fortifications of Cabanas. The massive walls, heavy 



62 Havana. 

battlements, and ponderous gates of this fortress give 
it the appearance, from a distance, of a walled town. 
It covers an area of several acres, and to garrison it 
effectively would require at least ten thousand men. 
It was built during the reign of Charles III., and its 
cost has been variously estimated at from ten to forty 
millions of dollars. It is related that this eccentric 
monarch, on learning the cost of this fortification, 
called for a telescope and began to survey the heavens. 
On being asked for an explanation, he remarked, that 
he was looking for the Cabanas, as a work of such 
magnitude, and on which so much money had been 
expended, ought to be visible at a great distance. 

The harbor of Havana is said to be one of the larg- 
est and best in the world. It is sufficiently deep to 
float vessels of the largest size, and capacious enough 
to accommodate the ships of all nations. The entrance 
is so narrow that only one vessel can come in at a 
time, and its entire length and breadth are covered by 
the bristling guns of the Moro and Cabanas. The 
view as we enter the harbor is beautifully picturesque 
and peculiarly suggestive of the Orient. On one side 
is the city, with its long rows of parti-colored build- 



Town of Regla. 63 

ings, massive and unique in tlieir structure, with tlieir 
flat tiled roofs, dingy and moss-covered, with here and 
there a grim grey tower uprising in their midst, im- 
parting to the whole a quaint and Moorish expression. 
On the opposite side, creeping from the water's edge 
up the sloping sides of an amphitheatre of hills, is the' 
little town of Kegla, once the romantic retreat of 
j^irates and buccaneers, and celebrated for the splen- 
dor of its bull-fights. Now it is an uninviting, dila- 
pidated looking place, and remarkable for nothing 
but its extensive trafl&c in sugar and molasses. How 
great the change! — from the chivalry and quixotism 
of the past to the dulce et utile of the present. The 
heights beyond the town were agreeably diversified 
with woodland and lawn, with umbrageous trees and 
verdant herbage ; while hero and there a majestic 
palm might be seen lifting its proud head from among 
the masses of tropical verdure in which it seemed to 
be imbedded, giving variety and beauty to the scene. 
The beautiful bay, over whose placid surface we were 
noiselessly gliding, was covered with vessels from all 
parts of the civilized world, and with the flags of 
nearly ever}' nation floating lazily in the breeze. 



64 Havana. 

Our steamer had scarcely dropped its anchor, before 
we were surrounded by scores of small boats rowed 
by natives dressed in white, with narrow-brimmed 
Panama hats surmounting their closely shorn heads, 
and by real Guinea negroes without hats, shoes, or 
any outer covering except a scanty apology for panta- 
loons. With uplifted oars, and in a language unin- 
telligible to us, accompanied with ludicrous pan- 
tomime, these harqueros evidently tried to attract our 
attention to the merits of their different boats. But 
our disembarkation was prevented by two sallow-faced 
Spanish officials " clothed with a little brief authority," 
and in jacket and trowsers of immaculate purity, who 
strutted, with cigars in their mouths, before the com- 
panion-way to prevent the egress of any of the pas- 
sengers until their passports had been examined. In 
about two hours this was accomplished, and our party 
seated in a boat, surrounded by luggage, and the 
swarthy oars-men pulling away lustily for the custom- 
house. 

The custom-house reached, our baggage was placed 
on the stone floor amid a crowd of sallow officials, and 
stalwart negroes of " the deepest dye," At a given 



Custom-House Ordeal. 65 

signal, one of these sable Hercules clasped a trunk in 
his immense arms, and placed it in its required posi- 
tion ; the straps were unloosed, the key applied, and 
in a moment the contents were exposed to view. 
" A deeply, darkly, beautifully hrown^'' individual, 
with a heavy mustacha and a cigar behind his ear, 
approached, and in a respectful manner made a slight 
examination of the contents. If no contraband 
article or death-dealing weapons were discovered, he 
said hueno, and with a wave of his hand the lid 
fell, and the trunk was safely delivered to the owner, 
who, however, was not permitted to leave until he 
had paid the Registrador sixteen reals (about two 
dollars) and received from him a written permit to 
remain in the city for thirty days. At the expiration 
of that time, by the payment of another fee, you can 
have your permit extended to sixty or ninety days. 
Should you wish to remain longer on the island, it 
will be necessary to obtain a letter of domicil, which 
can be procured through the consul of the country 
of which the applicant is a native. 

This ordeal passed, I breathed more freely. Hav- 
ing purchased the freedom of the city, with the 

3* 



66 Havana. 

evidence in my pocket, I was at liberty to go where 
and when I pleased. The streets at the time were 
swarming with half-naked negroes, Creoles, and Spanish 
soldiers. In sight were a number of rude carts, 
drawn by sleepy -looking oxen with the yokes fastened 
to their horns, and numerous- ponderous drays, whose 
motive power was a diminutive horse or mule. We 
placed our luggage on one of these cumbrous vehicles, 
and the ladies of our party into volantes^ with direc- 
tions to drive to the " Hotel Americana." The 
gentlemen walked, as the distance was short, and we 
were all desirous to see as much as possible of this 
strange-looking city. 

We had not proceeded far before we all became 
sensible of a peculiar odor in the atmosphere, the 
exact nature of which we could not then determine ; 
but I have since learned that it was the combined 
odor of garlic and cigar-smoke. The inhabitants use 
garlic in some form at every meal, and cook it in the 
open air, and the male population (to say nothing of 
the females) smoke all the time, except when eating 
and sleeping ; and it is said that many go to bed with 
a cigar in their mouths, and get up and smoke at 



Hotel Americana. 67 

intervals daring the night. One cannot remain here 
long without discovering that a cigar is a sine qua non in 
every Cuban's mouth. It is his vade mecum, his 
nepenthe, his solace in affliction, and the companion 
of his happier hours. To him, it is not only a luxury, 
but one of the necessaries of life, as indispensable to 
his happiness as is the exhilarating souchong to an 
inhabitant of the Celestial Empire. 

At the Hotel Americana we encountered another 
official, who remained until we had delivered up our 
permits to the proprietor for safe keeping, and regis- 
tered our names, places of residence, occupations, ages, 
and whether benedict or bachelor. This registration, 
I understand, is required of all foreigners who visit 
this island, so that the record here made, may be 
compared with their passports, which are retained by 
the authorities until the owner wishes to leave, when 
it is given up, and another fee of four or five dollars 
exacted, compelling us to pay an export as well as an 
imjMii duty. 

This hotel being nearly full when we arrived, Mr. 
Wolcott the proprietor was able to accommodate 
but a few of our party, and they had to take up with 



68 Havana. 

miserable rooms. After breakfast I went out in 
searcli of other quarters. Every j^osdda tbat I visited, 
was full, or the rooms so very uncomfortable that 
I would not engage them, and I was about giving up 
in despair, when I met an American friend who was 
stopping at the Hotel Revere. I returned with him, 
and secured a room, or part of a room, at that hotel, 
the apartments being so large that two or three, and 
sometimes a greater number of persons occupy the 
same room. I was glad to find accommodations any- 
where, for I was tired of wandering about this strange 
city, with its confusion of tongues, in pursuit of " a 
local habitation." My morning's experience had 
taught me the folly of being super-fastidious, and 
I made up my mind to be satisfied with such accom- 
modations as I could get. I was disposed to adopt the 
language of the philosophic Touchstone in the play 
of "As you Like it," and mentally exclaimed, "-Ay, 
now am I in Cuba ? The more fool I. When I was 
at home, I was in a better place ; but travellers must 
be content." 

The Hotel Revere is much larger than Wolcott's, 
but was not well kept. The rooms are more capa- 



Cuban Cookery. 69 

cioiis and better ventilated, but its larder is not as 
well stocked, and the cuisine is more exclusively 
Spanish. The table is not such as would be tolerated 
in our country, as nearly all the viands are badly 
cooked, and taste as well as " smell of Havana." 
The butter is not only odious, but odorous ; I smelt it 
once, and ever since have had it removed as far from 
my olfactory organs as possible. I have no desire to 
repeat the experiment. Most of the food is particu- 
larly unsavory to me, as garlic is an ingredient of 
nearly every dish. The meats are evidently cooked 
in rancid butter or grease, and many of the vegetables 
fried or compounded with something that renders 
them extremely unpalatable. Their bread — a kind 
of French twist — is excellent; consequently, I lean 
upon that " staff of life," assisted by a few other 
edibles, such as eggs, fried plantains, and sweet- 
potatoes, with a dessert of tropical fruit. As a beve- 
rage, I use water, and a light, sour native wine, which, 
though not very delicious, is infinitely more palatable 
to me than their coffee or tea. Good coffee and cho- 
colate can, however, be obtained at some of the restau- 
rants, and several of our boarders, who are extrava- 



70 Havana. 

gantly fond of these beverages, take their matutinal 
meal at the Dominica, a popular restaurant near by. 

La Dominica is on the Plaza, near the captain- 
general's residence, and is the fashionable lounging- 
place for citizens as well as strangers. A crowd of 
people, representatives of many different nations, 
assemble here during the evening to smoke their 
cigars and to discuss the news of the day over a 
cooling sherbet, or some of the delicious ices for 
which this place is celebrated. As early as nine 
o'clock all the marble tables are occupied, and so 
many different languages spoken by the occupants 
that a sort of Babel-like confusion reigns. The 
waiters respond to your signals with alacrity, and if 
you have learnt enough Spanish to make your wants 
known, you will be served immediately. If you 
wish to light your cigar, you have but to ejaculate 
" candelaP (fire), and a servant is at your elbow with 
a small silver brasier containing live-coals, which he 
places on the marble table before you, and departs to 
execute some other order. As the evening wanes the 
air becomes strongly impregnated with the odor of 
cigars, which might be disagreeable to those not 



Tariff of Prices. 71 

partial to the narcotic perfume, were it not that the 
spray from a tiny fountain in the room is diffused 
through the cigar-scented atmosphere, purifying and 
rendering it delightfully cool and agreeable. Costa 
and Co., the proprietors of this Cafe^ deal extensively 
in conserves and sweetmeats ; their guava jellies and 
marmalades are nicely put up in boxes for exportation, 
and sent to all parts of Europe and the United States. 
I learn on inquiry that nearly every article of 
consumption, with the exception of sugars, cigars, and 
tropical fruits, is dearer here than with us. Beef, mut- 
ton, and pork, are about twenty-five cents a pound. 
Fish and fowls are equally dear, especially in Havana; 
the first being a government monopoly, and the 
supply of the other not being equal to the demand. 
The duty on foreign flour is so great as to be almost 
equivalent to a prohibition ; nearly all that is used 
here comes from the mother country, and is exorbi- 
tantly high. The price of board at the different 
hotels in Havana is from three to four dollars a day. 
So far as my experience goes, the fare and accom- 
modations are execrable ; and were payment refused, 
a valid defence would be no value received. 



72 Havana. 

The Hotel Eevere, as some one has quaintly 
remarked, is in appearance a Moorish palace, in dis- 
comfort a German boarding-house, in expense a Bond 
street hotel. It was once the private residence of the 
Marquis de Cardenas, a wealthy Spanish nobleman, 
who lived here for a time in almost regal splendor ; 
but he became dissipated, squandered his property, and 
was finally obliged to give up this establishment. 
It is now held by the Captain-General, who is the 
ostensible owner, although it is said that the rents go 
to the support of the marquis, who is still living. I 
occupy a large double-bedded room with one immense 
window opening into the street, from the balcony of 
which I can almost pluck the rich golden oranges 
from the well-filled panniers of the vender of fruit, 
as he rides along the narrow street beneath perched 
on the rump of his patient mule. Dropping a real 
(a shilling) into the extended hand of the dealer, 
I am the grateful recipient of a hatful of this deli- 
cious tropical fruit for my early-morning repast. 

My room-mate is a veritable Yankee, from the 
lumber district of Maine, who is here negotiating the 
sale of several cargoes of sugar liogsheads and boxes 



High-Priced Cigars. 73 

manufactured in that State. lie is quite an agree- 
able companion, and decidedly an acquisition to my 
society, possessing as he does a fund of gooddiumor 
and good sense, and speaking " broken Spanish" 
sufficiently well to be my interpreter when required. 
He is well "posted" in politics, pine-lumber, and 
cigars. As a connoisseur of " the weed," he prefers 
that grown on a certain plantation in the Abajo 
district, and pronounces Cabana's celebrated two- 
hundred-and-fifty-dollars a thousand cigars an expen- 
sive humbug, and only purchased by " fools of 
quality," and those having more money than brains. 
These high-priced cigars are called Napoleons, and 
are purchased only by foreigners, who are not gene- 
rally aware that in Cuba the price of an article is not 
always regulated by the quality. These cigars are 
about six inches long, uniform in size, and as perfect 
in shape as if they were turned in a lathe. In 
quality, they are but little, if any, better than some 
brands that can be purchased for sixty dollars. The 
quantity of tobacco used in their manufocture, and 
the care necessary in selecting and preparing the 
outside wrappers — which are all of a color and free 



74 Havana. 

from imperfections — are the reasons assigned for the 
extravagant price asked for them. A gold medal 
was awarded to Cabana for the best cigars exhibited 
at the last Paris exhibition ; since which time his 
orders from Europe have increased to such an extent, 
notwithstanding his exorbitant prices, that he is 
rapidly accumulating a fortune. 

The few days that I have been here have passed 
very pleasantly, as most of my time is occupied in 
sight-seeing ; but the nights are not without their 
discomforts and annoyances. The ill arranged mos- 
quito bar attached to my cot does not entirely ex- 
clude those phlebotomizing insects ; and the window 
being destitute of glass and shutters, there is nothing 
to keep out the " voices of the night," which at times 
are not very somnus-inspiring. The clocks of the 
neighboring churches strike quarter-hourly, and as 
the sound dies away, the watchmen in the streets 
(and there is one stationed under my window), with 
a shrill, lugubrious cry, announce the hour. This 
peculiar cry, so distinct and ear-piercing, seriously 
disturbs my slumbers ; but I presume that as I be- 
come more accustomed to the sound, it will be less 



Sercnos. 75 

annoying. These " guardians of the night" are 
called serenos. They carry with them a lantern, a 
long spear, and a brace of pistols, and cry the time 
of night with a prolonged musical repetition of the 
syllables, usually commencing with the name of the 
Holy Virgin, and ending with the word sereno-0-0 
long drawn out, to let the sleepers know how quiet 
and serene are the heavens above -them. Sereno is a 
Spanish word, and belongs to two different parts of 
speech, each having a distinct and different significa- 
tion. When used as a substantive, it signifies a 
night-watch, while the literal interpretation of tho 
adjective, is quiet, mild, serene. * * * 



LETTEE VII. ' 

Havana, Ifarch, 1856. 

It is now about two weeks since I first landed 
upon these shores, and during that brief period I 
have seen so much, have witnessed so many strange 
scenes, that I can hardly realize that so short a time 
has elapsed. It has been an eventful fortnight to me, 
as well as an industrious one ; for I have devoted all 
of my available time to sight-seeing, and have accom- 
plished as much already as most tourists would 
during an entire season. 

In my last letter, I gave a brief description of the 
harbor of Havana, its fortifications and defences, 
together with my first impressions of the city and its 
inhabitants. These impressions were of course desul- 
tor}^, being formed from a limited acquaintance with 
a few of the principal streets inti-a muros (within the 



The City Proper. 77 

■walls). Since that time I have become familiar 
with the entire city from Costa del Norte to the ex- 
treme southern limits ; and from the waters of the 
Bahia de la Habana on the east, to the crowning 
heights of "Castle Principe" on the west. I have 
seen the city in all its phases : at break of day, in 
the heat and glare of a meridian sun, at dusky 
twilight, and in the full blaze of gas-light ; have 
lost my way while wandering through its laby- 
rinthine streets, and had a narrow escape from a 
douche and "a flowing sea," while clambering over 
the rocky beach at the base of La Punta, in searcli 
of shells and specimens. 

The city proper contains about one third of the 
entire population, and is separated from the suburbs 
by a high wall and moat, which extends, in an ellip- 
tical course, from the mouth of the harbor to the 
southern limits of the bay. At the terminus of 
several of the principal streets are enormous gate- 
ways guarded by Spanish soldiers, whose duty it is 
to challenge all strangers who pass through. But I 
repeatedly passed and repassed without being chal- 
lenged, or even noticed by the automatic sentinels, 



78 Havana. 

who are evidently stationed there more for military 
display than for real service. 

The streets of the city within the walls are so 
narrow and the houses built so close to them, that 
they have more the appearance of private lanes than 
highways for travel. Though they are only wide 
enough to allow two carriages to pass each other, and 
to a stranger that would seem a hazardous under- 
taking, collisions are of rare occurrence. On each 
side of the street are narrow flaggings of stone for 
pedestrians : but sidewalks are of little use in 
this city, as but few of the inhabitants ever walk. 
The " spinning of street-yarn," a practice so much in 
vogue among the peripatetic ladies of the north, is a 
decidedly unfashionable pastime here, only indulged 
in by foreigners and natives of the poorest class. 
The Cuban gentlemen seldom walk, the ladies never, 
except during some of the Iloly-days, when carriages 
are not allowed on the streets. 

The vehicles used here are called " Yolantes," and 
are peculiar to this country. In shape and appear- 
ance they bear some resemblance to our old-fashioned 
one-horse chaise, except that the wheels of a volante 



Volantes. . 79 

are considerably larger, and the shafts more flexible 
and nearly twice as long. , The " propelling power" 
(a small native horse or mule) is at least six feet from 
the body of the carriage, which is hung midway 
between the horse and the axle, imparting to it an 
elastic and cradle-like motion. The horse is ridden 
by a negro called a Calesero, who is usually dressed in 
fanciful livery, with immense jack-boots reaching far 
above his knees, and his sombrero (if he is fortunate 
enough to own one) is generally ornamented with 
bits of gay ribbon, or a feather plucked from the tail 
of some domestic fowl or bird. A few of the more 
pretentious volantes have two horses, one for the pos- 
tillion to ride while guiding the other which is 
attached to the carriage. This is certainly a humane 
and horse-pitiable procedure, for it is enough that the 
poor little animal is compelled to draw a heavy 
volante containing two or three persons, on a full 
gallop, without being encumbered with a heavy pack- 
saddle and a clumsy postillion. The long tails of the 
horses are braided and fastened to the pommel of the 
saddle, it being considered ornamental. It is at the 
same time a useful precaution, as it prevents those 



8o Havana. 

mercurial appendages from whisking the faces of the 
few pedestrians they may encounter in the narrow 
streets. The sidewalks are so narrow that, when two 
persons meet, one is obliged to step into the street, 
and in so doing must keep a sharp look-out to avoid 
the danger of being brushed against by the passing 
volantes. 

But few of the shops and private residences here 
are above one story high ; none that I have seen 
are more than two. The rooms are large and of 
great height. In buildings of one story they gene- 
rally extend to the rafters, which are painted some 
bright color and left exposed to view. There is but 
one door in front, which is sufficiently large to admit 
the passage of a^ volante with its horse and rider. 
The carriage is usually left near the entrance, and is 
visible from the street ; while the horse is taken to an 
open court in the rear, which is used as a kitchen and 
stable conjointly. Among the middle classes the 
volante is often seen occupying a place in the best 
room in the house ; for it is here considered an indis- 
pensable appendage to every household, and its pos- 
session is a more certain passport to Cuban "upper- 



A National Weakness. 8l 

ten-dom" tlian would be the occupancy of " a four- 
story brown stone front" in the fashionable purlieus 
of Fifth Avenue, Some of the most opulent families 
have half-a-dozen or more volantes, one for each mar- 
riageable daughter. The greater the number and the 
more expensive the equipages the higher the owner 
rises in the scale of respectability. Many persons 
in straitened circumstances, it is said, practise the 
most rigid economy, and even debar themselves from 
many of the luxuries of life, to enable them to keep a 
volante and its necessary accompaniments. It is a 
national weakness which pervades all classes of soci- 
ety from the titled millionaire to the humble artisan. 
i- Nearly all the buildings here have a venerable, and, 
in the distance, a somewhat dilapidated appearance. 
They are mostly built of stone covered with a species 
of stucco, and colored to suit the taste of the owner or 
occupant. One story may be blue, the other yellow 
or green, and the next building just the reverse. 
This bright and somewhat incongruous combination 
of colors would be apt to produce a dazzling and 
unpleasant effect on the eye were it not that the cli- 
mate and the proximity of the ocean soon destroy 



82 Havana. 

the lustre of the paint, and impart to the buildings 
a faded and time-worn appearance. In buildings of 
two stories, the first floor is generally used as a shop 
or warehouse, and in some instances as a stable, 
while the floor above is occupied as a hotel or private 
residence. Many of the wealthy merchants here live 
and do business under the same roof. The first story 
of the Captain-General's Palace, on the Plaza, is now 
occupied by shop-keepers, and you can buy a cup of 
coffee and a cigar in a saloon under the drawing-room 
of her Excellency Madame Concha, or have your 
horse shod or your own shoes repaired beneath the 
roof of some of the most aristocratic of the Cuban 
nobility. 

A brief description of the Hotel Eevere, which was 
once the residence of a Spanish nobleman, will give 
some idea of the construction and arrangement of the 
best buildings in Havana. It is two stories high, with 
a plain, unpretending fagade, and only distinguishable 
from some of the adjacent buildings by its numerous 
balconied windows on the second floor. The only 
entrance from the street is through a capacious door- 
way, almost large enough to admit two carriages 



A Nobleman's Residence. 83 

abreast. Its ponderous double doors studded with 
innumerable bolts of iron, and otherwise rendered 
burglar-proof, are seldom closed except at night. 
Within this doorway you will commonly see one or 
more volantes, also the bed and table of the porter, 
who remains there night and day. He is usually 
engaged during the intervals between sleeping and 
eating in making cigarettos, repairing garments, or 
some other light mechanical occupation. At the 
further end of this hall, or passage, is an open court, 
where you will find the atmosphere impregnated with 
a peculiar odor. Olfactory organs naturally acute, 
with nice powers of discrimination, will soon discover 
it to be a combination of garlic, cigar-smoke, and 
offal. I will here say in explanation, that within this 
area of a few square rods several horses are stabled 
at night and during the heat of the day. Near by, 
and within smelling distance, is the kitchen and culi- 
nary department, where garlic is cooked at least twice 
a day, and is an ingredient in nearly every dish set 
upon the table. While here, there, and everywhere, 
may be seen the smoke arising from the ubiquitous 
cigar, in the mouths of landlord, guest, cook, scullion. 



84 Havana. 

and groom ; for everything here pertaining to humo- 
nity, wliether it be high or low. rich or poor, bond or 
free, is, to some extent, a consumer of the universal 
" weed." 

"We next ascend a broad flight of stone steps to a 
long open corridor or gallery, which is used as a 
dining-room and public promenade. At one end of 
this corridor is the parlor, at the other the kitchen ; 
and between the two, at regular intervals, are doors 
leading to the principal apartments, which are used as 
lodging-rooms, and now occupied by guests. These 
rooms all open into each other, and are large, airy, 
and would be very pleasant were they not so poorly 
furnished. A small cot-bedstead in each corner of 
the room, a tiny wash-stand, and two or three cane- 
bottomed chairs, are about all the furniture they con- 
tain. The floors are of tile, with a small bit of carpet 
spread by the side of each cot, the heat of the cli- 
mate rendering wooden floors and carpets uncomforta- 
ble. The rooms below us, on the ground floor, are 
used as shops and warehouses, and have no commu- 
nication in any way with this hotel. 

In buildings of one story, the windows are gene- 



Tropical Beauties. 85" 

rally about half tlie size of tlic room, and nearly on 
a level with the street, for the purpose of admitting 
as much air as possible. In the place of sash and 
glass are heavy iron gratings, which give to the 
building very much the appearance of a prison. 
Usually there are light curtains or wooden shutters 
on the inside, but these being seldom closed, the liv- 
ing room and family group are visible to the passer- 
by, who is at liberty to stop and gaze within as long 
as he chooses, without exciting notice or remark from 
the occupants. In fact, the Cuban ladies seem to be 
rather flattered than otherwise by such attentions 
from strangers, which they construe into evidences 
of admiration. 

Much has been said and written of an extravagant 
nature about the beauty of the Cuban ladies. They 
are beautiful, if dark, dreamy eyes, luxuriant hair, 
and magnificent busts alone constitute beauty. But 
I confess my disappointment in these Creole beauties 
— these tropical houris, whose praises have so often 
been celebrated in poesy and in song. Theirs is an 
external beauty — the perfection of form and feature, 
without the charm of modesty and refinement, 



86 Havana. 

qualities so essential in the female cliaracter. Yanitj 
is evidently one of their petty foibles, and coquetry 
one of their most prominent characteristics ; and no- 
where is there a better opportunity for displaying 
these peculiar traits than in church. When in the 
act of kneeling, many of them take especial pains 
to arrange their dresses becomingly, and place 
their jewelled hands where they will show to the best 
possible advantage ; and when apparently absorbed 
in their devotions, you will occasionally see one ply- 
ing the telegraphic fan, or exchanging tokens of 
recognition with some favorite senor in another part 
of the building. It is a noticeable fact that the 
Cuban ladies have the art of wielding the fen with a 
grace and dexterity unsurpassed by any nation in 
the world. They are initiated into its coquettish 
mysteries during their youth, and, when they are 
grown up, it becomes in their hands the very perfec- 
tion of acting, and the language they impart to its 
use is an expressive pantomime that requires no 
interpretation. 

Among the many churches and other public build- 
ings in this papal city, none have more interesting 



The Cathedral. 8) 

associations connected with them than the cathedral, 
a large and oddly constructed building, whose mas- 
sive walls and turrets are grey with age and crumbling 
Vfhh. decay. Within this venerable church repose 
the remains of the great disco verex, Christopher 
Columbus. The coffin containing his revered ashes is 
inclosed in the wall near one of the principal altars, 
and the chain with which an ungrateful monarch 
once bound him, is said to be preserved here, but is 
not shown to visitors. Among the paintings in this 
church, is one representing the solemn celebration 
of the mass previous to the departure of Colum- 
bus on his first expedition in search of a new 
world. Many of the paintings are quite large, and 
are said to be the productions of the old masters ; 
but they were suspended so high on the walls, that I 
was unable, on account of near-sightedness, to give 
them a critical examination. 

As the cathedral is not far distant from my hotel, 
and is open at all hours of the day, I visit it quite 
often. The music is sometimes exceedingly fine, and 
some of the services quite impressive ; but many of 
the forms and ceremonies are so senseless and appa- 



88 Havana. 

rently soulless, and the pageantry so extremely ridicu- 
lous, tliat it cannot fail to excite in tlie bosom of 
every true Protestant mingled feelings of pity and 
disgust. The congregation is usually composed of 
all grades, colors, and sexes ; but a majority are 
ladies, apparently of the best classes, who assume the 
most devout attitudes, and remain the longest time at 
their devotions. Many of the men (particularly 
among the laboring classes) merely come within the 
door, drop on one knee, with their faces turned 
towards the principal altar, and utter a short, but 
scarcely audible prayer. When this is finished, they 
dip a finger in the consecrated water, make a sign of 
the cross on their foreheads, and glide out as noise- 
lessly as they came in. None of the churches that I 
have visited contain any pews, and only an occasional 
seat near the wall ; so that all who come there to 
worship must kneel or stand. It is a beautiful sight 
to see several hundred seiioras and senoritas kneeling 
or half reclining on showy mats or bits of gay carpet, 
their necks and arms bare, and often resplendent 
with jewels ; their dark glossy hair ornamented with 
pearls or flowers, and their exquisitely wrought flms. 



Rags and Jewels. 89 

inlaid with gold and precious stones, " glittering in 
their hands like so many butterflies." 

Each lady, as she enters the church, is accompa- 
nied by her sable calesero, or footman, carrying in his 
arms a rich rug or elaborately embroidered stool, for 
his mistress to kneel or sit upon ; and he usually 
remains standing or kneeling by her side during the 
service. Soon, mendicant women, old, decrcpid, and 
of all colors, crowd their way in and kneel among 
the interstices of the richly rugged floor, apparently 
without annoyance to their fair neighbors. There 
were black and white, old and young, rich and poor, 
bond and free, all kneeling side by side. I was, I 
must confess, considerably surprised at this apparent 
willingness of these high-born dames to amalgamate 
with those of low degree. It is true, we are promised 
such things hereafter ; but this bringing of rags and 
jewels — the lustre of ebony and tiie brilliancy of 
pearl — into such close proximity here heloii\ is more 
than was ever " dreamed of in my philosophy," and 
something that I did not suppose would ever occur 
in this world of sinful fastidiousness. Military mass 

is celebrated in some of the churches every morning 

4* 



90 Havana. 

at six o'clock, and one or more companies of soldiers, 
with their officers, are always in attendance. It is a 
curious sight to see one or two hundred soldiers, with 
bristling bayonets and gleaming swords, come march- 
ing into church to the tap of the drum, and array 
themselves in " serried files " as if with hostile intent. 
But there is nothing in their manner to inspire the 
spectator with devotional feelings. They go through 
all the multifarious forms and ceremonies with a kind 
of automatic precision, as if they regarded it as a mili- 
tary rather than a religious duty. 



LETTEE VIII. 

Havana, March, 1856. 
The Ilabaneros arc a peculiar people. Many of 
their habits and customs are entirely different from 
ours. The tradesmen seldom place their names over 
their shop doors, but adopt a sign either poetical or 
fanciful, such as "La Favorita," "La Moda," "El 
Sol," "Belle de Cuba." Sometimes they are more- 
ludicrous than poetical. For instance, " El Pobre 
Diablo" (the poor devil) is the name of a popular 
dry-goods store in the Calle del Obispo. The Cuban 
ladies usually make their purchases in the morning, 
or just previous to their evening drive on the Paseo. 
They never leave their volantes, but have such articles 
as they wish to examine brought to them by the 
shop-keeper or his clerks, it being considered as direct 
a violation of the established rules of etiquette for 



92 Havana. 

a lady to enter a store, as to be seen walking the 
streets. Many of the ladies here do tlieir shopping 
without leaving their homes. On sending word to 
a store, a clerk is despatched to the lady's residence 
with a basket containing such goods as she may wish 
to examine. If the customer is not suited, the clerk 
will go to all the principal stores in the city, and pro- 
cure, if possible, the article desired. Some of the 
merchants send each morning to the principal hotels 
samples of their most attractive goods for the inspec- 
tion of the lady boarders, who can, if they choose, 
make their purchases without leaving the hotel. This 
is appreciated by those who are disposed to conform 
to Cuban etiquette ; but most of the American ladies, 
I observe, are so unfashionable, as to prefer to do 
their own shopping. 

A singular custom prevails among the milk-men 
here, as well as in other large towns of Cuba, in their 
mode of supplying the inhabitants with the lacteal 
beverage. They drive their cows and goats through 
the streets at an early hour in the morning, to be 
milked at the doors of their customers, giving to each 
the quantity required for the day, warm and free 



Market-Men. 93 

from adulteration. When all their customers are 
supplied, the patient animals are driven home, or 
turned out to pasture among the mountains. This 
compulsory itinerancy, and the habit of extracting a 
limited quantity of milk at a sitting, has an injurious 
effect on the cows, and they cease to " give down" 
their milk freely under this treatment. 

The vender of fruit, vegetables, and other domestic 
products, brings his supplies to market in large straw 
or willow-panniers slung across the back of his sleepy 
donkey, "vvhose owner is often seen perched upon the 
rump behind. He rides close up to the windows of 
the houses, to give the mistress or domestic of the 
establishment an opportunity to examine his " stock 
in trade" without their going out of doors. It is not 
unusual for a farmer from the mountain districts to 
come to town with a dozen horses or mules fastened 
together one before the other, and loaded with pro- 
vender. The horses are tied each to the tail of the 
one preceding it, and their mouths muzzled so that 
they cannot filch from their predecessor's load, which 
is in such tempting proximity. The diminutive ani- 
mals are often so completely hidden under immense 



94 Havana. 

bundles of straw, or the green leaves of Indian corn 
— which is used here principally as fodder — that they 
look like so many " walking stacks," and in the 
distance present a novel and somewhat ludicrous 
appearance. The horseman who leads the cavalcade 
usually wears a high pointed sombrero, enormous 
spurs upon his heels, and sometimes carries a sword 
and pistols by his side. The latter are evidently 
worn more for ornament than use, as these Monteros 
are as fond of show and as eccentric in their tastes, 
as some of the old Spanish hidalgos from whom 
they may have descended. * * * 

Havana is evidently a place of considerable busi- 
ness, yet to visit its public promenades and places 
of amusement, one would suppose all the inhabitants 
were sybarites, and that business was secondary to 
pleasure. In the morning, before the heat becomes 
oppressive, these places are frequented ; and when 
the sun is low down in the horizon, every street and 
avenue becomes filled with gay and expensive equi- 
pages, on their way to the Pasdo de Isabel, the fashion- 
able drive and promenade estra muros (beyond the 
walls). Passing out at the Monserrate gate through 



Paseo de Isabel. 95 

an arched gateway guarded by stupid sentinels, and 
over a deep moat, you reach, this celebrated avenue, 
where all the wealth, fashion, and beauty of the city 
do congregate. This Paseo extends in a direct line 
from the Prado to the Campo del Marte, or military 
square, a distance of nearly a mile. It is about four 
hundred feet wide, and consists of five separate drives, 
running parallel with each other, which are bordered 
with fine trees and ornamented with fountains and 
statues. As the day begins to wane, and the heat- 
laden air gives place to soft ocean breezes, this avenue 
becomes the scene of indescribable gaiety. The 
numerous walks are thronged with pedestrians ; 
countless numbers of volantes, freighted with theij: 
precious burdens, pass and repass each other in rapid 
succession, and one not accustomed to such a scene, 
gazes until his sight becomes dazzled and his senses 
bewildered by so much splendor and magnificence. 

This pageant is kept up until about eight o'clock, 
when the Paseo becomes deserted by the fashionables, 
who repair to the Plaza de Annas, where some of the 
fine military bands play for an hour every evening. 
This gratuitous performance is called by the Cubans 



96 Havana. 

"the poor-man's opera," and is extensively patronized 
by all classes. The various walks in the Plaza are 
thronged with pedestrians, and the streets surrounding 
it filled with volantes ; the fair occupants being 
engaged in " discussing" a vanilla-ice or cooling 
sherbet, from La Dominica, a popular restaurant near 
by ; or in coquetting with some familiar acquaintance, 
who may have approached their carriage during the 
pauses of the music. In the midst of this gay 
crowd may be seen Spanish soldiers, with their 
bayonets glittering in the bright moonlight, who are 
stationed here, as well as in all other parts of the 
city, to remind the people, that not only during war, 
but in peace and while engaged in innocent recrea 
tions, they are under the control of a military force 
that is omnipresent and all-powerful. * * * 

Since writing you last, I have become somewhat 
familiar with the environs of Havana, and have spent 
many pleasant hours upon the green sloping hills 
which lie adjacent to the city. Castle Principe stands 
upon one of the highest elevations, and the view 
from its massive battlements is one of the finest that 
I ever witnessed. The city and its suburbs lie, as it 



The Bishop's Garden. 97 

were, almost at its very feet ; and the land-locked bay 
with its myriads of vessels sleeping on the tide, as 
well as the crescent-shaped hills beyond, covered with 
perennial foliage, are distinctly visible from this 
elevation, and form a living picture on which the 
eye delights to linger. A pleasant drive is through the 
Tacon Pasdo (over a road as smooth as a pebbly 
beach, and lined on each side with double rows of 
giant palms) to that romantic suburb known as the 
Cerro, with its quaint little villas and unpretentious 
cottages overburdened with shade, and redolent of 
the perfume of flowers. Not far from here is the 
celebrated " Bishop's Garden ;" so called, from its once 
being the residence of the Bishop of Havana. It is 
now uninhabited, and everything about it going to 
decay. The house itself is but a moss-covered ruin, 
its roof having been torn off by a hurricane which 
nearly devastated the island a few years since ; and 
its crumbling walls of stone and stucco are covered 
with moss and parasitical plants. The walks about 
the grounds are now choked with weeds ; the fish- 
ponds are filled with stagnant water, and uninhabited, 
except by frogs and slimy reptiles ; the bridges are 



9^ Havana. 

decaj^ed ; its marble statues broken or displaced, and 
covered witli a gangrenous mould, and everything 
appertaining to the place has the appearance of deso- 
lation and decay. The only person that I saw on 
the premises was a solitary laborer, who was enga- 
ged in cultivating a few vegetables for the Havana 
market. 

Nothing that I have yet seen in this city has inte- 
rested me more than the Pescaderia or fish-market ; 
and I would advise those who have a taste for ich- 
thyological aesthetics, or a curiosity to witness eccen- 
tric combinations of colors, if they ever come to 
Havana, not to fail to visit this interesting, yet some- 
what scaly institution. The long rows of marble 
counters, extending as far as the eye can reach, are 
covered ever}'' morning with bright and shining heaps 
of these " treasures of the deep," which rival in lustre 
the brightest shells of the ocean, and, in variety of 
shade and intensity of color, the very rainbow itself. 
It is supposed by some, that the peculiar richness and 
variety of color displayed by these piscatory 23heno- 
mena, are imparted to them by the sun when he casts 
his prismatic bow into the briny deep. This theory 



The Fish-Market. 99 

is sustained by the interesting fact tliat the multitu- 
dinous tints and variegated hues of the rainbow are 
here exhibited with wonderful distinctness. Every 
conceivable color and shade is to be seen here, from 
the most vivid scarlet and brightest orange, to the 
softest azure and the palest green. Incomprehensible 
nature, in her moments of caprice, has strangely 
blended and mixed these various colors, forming gro- 
tesque and fanciful pictures for the eye to rest upon. 
One side of a fish may be blue, and the other a 
bright scarlet or orange. Another, perhaps, has a 
crimson back, green sides, and a blue head or tail 
beautifully flecked or shaded with orange. Others 
are covered with spots or stripes of various hues, or 
fantastically variegated ; and some look, a short dis- 
tance off, as if their sides were composed of layers of 
silver and gold, alternating and lapping over each 
other. It was certainly a curious sight, and more 
than realized my expectations. Notwithstanding the 
waters in the vicinity swarm with the " finny tribe," 
and the markets are abundantly supplied, this species 
of food is exceedingly dear. This arises from the 
fiict of its being a government monopoly, and none 



lOO Havana. 

but its agents are allowed to take fish from these 
waters, or to ofier them for sale in this city. 

An interesting story is told concerning this mono- 
poly, which is so romantic that I shall relate it. A quar- 
ter of a century ago the coast of Cuba was infested by a 
band of smugglers and semi-pirates, commanded by 
" a bold bad man" named Marti, who was known as 
the " King of the Isle of Pines," a cluster of small 
islands in the vicinity, where he made his head-quar- 
ters, and whence he sent his small, fleet vessels out 
on marauding expeditions. When Tacon first became 
governor-general of Cuba (about the year' 1834), 
finding that the revenues of the island had become 
very much diminished from the extensive smuggling 
upon the coast, he determined, if possible, to put a 
stop to the nefarious practice. The entire available 
maritime force was called into requisition, and armed 
vessels coasted night and day for months, without the 
least success against the smugglers. At last, finding 
that all his expeditions against them failed,* partly 
from the adroitness and bravery of the smugglers, 
and partly from the want of pilots among the shoals 
* See Ballou's Historj of Cuba. 



Rovers of the Gulf. loi 

and rocks that they frequented, a large and tempting 
reward was offered to any one who would desert from 
his comrades and act in this capacity in behalf of the 
government. At the same time, a double sum, most 
princely in amount, was offered for the person of 
Marti the leader, dead or live. These rewards were 
freely promulgated, and posted so as to reach the ears 
and eyes of those whom they concerned ; but even 
these seemed to produce no effect, and the government 
officers were at a loss how to proceed in the matter. 

"It was a dark, cloudy night in Havana, some 
three or four months subsequent to the issuing of 
these placards announcing the reward as referred to, 
when two sentinels were pacing backwards and for- 
wards before the main entrance to the governor's 
palace, just opposite the^ grand plaza. A little before 
midnight, a man, wrapped in a cloak, was watching 
them from behind the statue of Ferdinand, near the 
fountain ; and, after observing that the two soldiers 
acting as sentinels paced their brief walk so as to 
meet each other, and then turn their backs as they 
separated, leaving a brief moment in the interval 
when the eyes of both were turned away from the 



1 02 Havana. 

entrance tliey were placed to guard, seemed to cal- 
culate upon passing them unobserved. It was an 
exceedingly delicate manoeuvre, and required great 
care and dexterity to effect it; but, at last, it was 
adroitly done, and the stranger sprang lightly through 
the entrance, secreting himself behind one of the pil- 
lars in the inner court of the palace. The sentinels 
paced on undisturbed. 

" The figure which had thus stealthily effected an. 
entrance, now sought the broad stairs that led to the 
governor's suite of apartments, with a confidence 
that evinced a perfect knowledge of the place. A 
second guard-post was to be passed at the head of 
the stairs; but, assuming an air of authority, the 
stranger offered a cold military salute and pressed 
forward, as though there was not the most distant 
question of his right so to do ; and thus avoiding all 
suspicion in the guard's mind, he boldly entered the 
governor's reception-room unchallenged, and closed 
the door behind him. In a large easy chair sat the 
commander-in-chief, busily engaged in writing, but 
alone. An expression of undisguised satisfaction 
passed across the weather-beaten countenance of the 



Marti, the Smuggler. 103 

new-comer at this state of affairs, as lie coolly 
laid aside his cloak and proceeded to wipe the 
perspiration from his face. The governor, looking 
up with surprise, fixed his keen eyes upon the 
intruder. 

" 'Who enters here, unannounced, at this hour?' 
he asked, sternly, while he regarded the stranger 
earnestly. 

" ' One who has information of value for the 
governor-general. You arc Tacon, I suppose ? ' 

"'lam. What would you with me? or, rather, 
how did you pass my guard unchallenged ? ' 

" ' Of that anon. Excellency, you have ofi'ered a 
reward for information concerning the rovers of the 
gulf?' 

"'Ha! yes. What of them?' said Tacon with 
undisguised interest. 

"'Excellency, I must speak with caution,' con- 
tinued the new comer ; ' otherwise I may condemn 
and sacrifice myself.' 

"'You have naught to fear on that head. The 
offer of reward for evidence against the scapegraces 
also vouchsafes a pardon to the informant. You may 



104 Havana. 

speak on, without fear for yourself, even thougli you 
may be one of the very confederation itself.' 

" ' You offer a reward, also, in addition for the dis- 
covery of Marti — Captain Marti, of the smugglers — 
do you not ? ' 

" ' We do, and will gladly make good the promise 
of reward for any information upon the subject,' 
replied Tacon. 

" ' First, Excellency, do you give me your knightly 
word that you will grant a free pardon to we, if I 
reveal all that you require to know, ev^n embracing 
the most secret hiding-places of the rovers ? ' 

" ' I pledge you my word of honor,' said the com- 
mander. 

" ' No matter how heinous in the sight of the law 
mj offences may have been, still you will pardon me, 
under the king's- seal ? ' 

" ' I will, if you will reveal truly and to any good 
purpose,' answered Tacon, weighing in his mind the 
object of all this precaution. 

" ' Even if I were a leader among the rovers my- 
self? ' 

" The governor hesitated for a moment, canvassing 



Marti, the Smuggler. 105 

in a single glance the subject before bim, and then 
said : 

" ' Even then, be you whom you may ; if you are 
able, and will honestly pilot our ships and reveal the 
secrets of Marti and his followers, you shall be 
rewarded as our proffer sets forth, and yourself 
receive a free pardon." 

" ' Excellency, I think I know your character well 
enough to trust you, else I would not have ventured 
here.' 

" ' Speak, then ; my time is precious,' was the 
impatient reply of Tacon. 

" ' Then, Excellency, the man for whom you have 
offered the largest reward, dead or alive, is now before 
you ! ' 

" ' And you are ' 

" ' Marti ! ' 

" The governor-general drew back in astonishment, 
and cast his eyes towards a brace of pistols that lay 
within his reach ; but it was only for a single moment, 
when he again assumed entire self-control, and said, — 

" ' I shall keep my promise, sir, provided you are 
faithful, though the laws call loudly for your punish- 



1 o6 Havana. 

ment ; and even now you are in my power. To 
insure your faithfulness, you must remain at present 
under guard.' 

" Saying which, he rang a silver bell by his side, 
and issued a verbal order to the attendant who 
answered it. Immediately after, the officer of the 
watch entered, and Marti was placed in confinement, 
with orders to render him comfortable until he was 
sent for. His name remained a secret with the com- 
mander : and thus the night scene closed. 

" On the following daj^, one of the men-of-war that 
lay idly beneath the guns of Moro Castle, suddenly 
became the scene of the utmost activity, and, before 
noon, had weighed her anchor, and was standing out 
into the Gulf Stream. Marti, the smuggler, was on 
board, as her pilot : and faithfully did he guide the 
ship, in the discharge of his treacherous business, 
among the shoals and bays of the coast for nearly a 
month, revealing every secret haunt of the rovers, 
exposing their most valuable depots and well selected 
rendezvous ; and many a smuggling craft was taken 
and destroyed. The amount of money and property 
thus secured was very great ; and Marti returned 



Marti, the Smuggler. loy 

with the ship to claim his reward from the governor- 
general, who, well satisfied with the manner in 
which the rascal had fulfilled his a2:reement, and be- 
trajed those comrades who were too faithful to be 
tempted to treachery themselves, summoned Marti 
before him. 

" ' As you have fliithfully performed your part of 
our agreement,' said the governor-general, ' I am 
now prepared to comply with the articles on my part. 
In this package you will find a free and unconditional 
pardon for all your offences against the laws. And 
here is an order on the treasury for ' 

" ' Excuse me, Excellency. The pardon I gladly 
receive. As to the sum of money you propose to 
give me, let me make you a proposition. Ketain the 
money, and in place of it, guarantee me the right to 
fish in the neighborhood of the city, and declare the 
trade in fish contraband to all except my agents. 
This will richly repay me, and I will erect a public 
market of stone at my own expense, which shall be 
an ornament to the city, and which at the expiration 
of a specified number of years shall revert to the 
government, with all right and title to the fishery.' 



io8 Havana. 

" Tacon was pleased at the idea of a superb fish- 
market, which should eventually revert to the govern- 
ment, and also at the idea of saving the large sum of 
money covered by the promised reward. The singu- 
lar proposition of the smuggler was duly considered, 
and acceded to ; and Marti was declared in legal form 
to possess for the future, sole right to fish in the 
neighborhood of the city, or to sell the article in any 
form ; and he at once assumed the rights that the 
order guaranteed to him. Having in his roving life 
learned all the best fishinQ;-grounds, he furnished the 
city bountifully with the article, and reaped yearly 
an immense profit, until, at the close of the period for 
which the monopoly was granted, he was the richest 
man on the island. According to the agreement, the 
fine market and its privileges reverted to the govern- 
ment at the time specified, and the monopoly has 
ever since been rigorously enforced." 

Many romantic stories are told of Marti ; but the 
one just related is the only one, I believe, that is 
authenticated, and which has any connexion with 
this monopoly. 

To-morrow I expect to leave for Matanzas, Car- 



Visit to the Interior. 109 

denas, and other places in the interior of the island. 
If I see anything of the " Cuban elephant" during 
my absence, I shall endeavor to photograph his 
" Imperial Majesty," and will transmit you a copy 
immediately on my return to this city. 



LETTER IX. 

Havana, March, 1856. 

During my recent excursion into the country, I 
discovered many new and attractive features in Cuban 
life and scenery, of which I shall ever retain a pleas- 
ing remembrance. At the same time, I was a par- 
ticipator in a few " stirring scenes," and adventures 
of a less agreeable nature. I was accompanied as flir 
as Guines — a small village lying on the railroad 
about fifteen leagues from the city — by a party of 
friends on their way to an ingenio (pronounced 
inhanyo) or sugar manufactory, situated a few miles 
from that station. 

The cars on this road are of American manufac- 
ture (that is, built in the United States), are drawn 
by American-built engines, and conducted by Ameri- 
can engineers. They are divided into three classes. 



Railroad to Guines. in 

The rate ot fore in each corresponds with the luxury 
of the accommodations. The first class are like the 
ordinary coaches on our northern railroads, but the 
fare in them is so high, that they are seldom patron- 
ized except by foreigners and wealthy planters when 
accompanied by ladies. Tlie second class cars have 
seats without cushions ; a covering overhead, but no 
protection at the sides or ends, which are open to the 
winds of heaven, blow they ever so roughly. But 
as the weather here is never cold, and storms are of 
rare occurrence, these cars are generally well filled, 
as the expense is much less, and the occupants are 
better able to see the country through which they 
are passing. The cars of the third class are simply 
uncovered platforms, for the transportation of slaves, 
coolies, and the lower order of the peasantry. 

We reached Guines about nine o'clock A.M., and 
while breakfixst was being prepared for our party, 

Mr. S and myself called on the wife of the ventero 

to show us the rooms that we could occupy on our 
return from the plantation that night. Being busy at 
the time with her matutinal preparations, our dark- 
skinned hostess deputed an unwashed and unkempt 



112 Havana. 

specimen of humanity — apparently of the male gen- 
der — to wait on us. We followed our guide through 
a large back-yard, swarming with pigs and poultry, to 
a dingy out-building, wliich. contained two or three 
rooms, separated from each other by rough board 
partitions. These apartments were so dirtj^ and un- 
comfortable, that we decided not to engage them ; 
which decision was strengthened by the discovery 
that there were no inside fastenings to any of the 
doors, and no way to prevent the intrusion of the 
" outside barbarians," were any of them disposed to 
pay us a nocturnal visit. On our way back to the 
inn I noticed two suspicious-looking fellows seated on 
the ground playing at monte, a favorite game of cards 
with the peasantr3^ This discovery so affected the 
sensitive organization of my friend the Ex-Congress- 
man, that he expressed a determination to return to 
Havana that night, being satisfied with his limited 
acquaintance with Cuban society and scenery. 

The untidy appearance of the place, both in and 
out of doors, had such an «?2appetizing effect upon us, 
that we did not wait for breakfast, but left imme- 
diately for the ingenio ; Mr. and Airs. S in an old 



An Impetuous Steed. 113 

rickety voknte, and I on an old and apparently 
rickety horse, whose powers of locomotion, however, 
proved to be much superior to wdiat I was led to 
expect from his dilapidated appearance. If you have 
any conception of the shape of " a Virginia rail-fence," 
you can perhaps form some idea of the road over 
which we travelled. It was tortuous in the extreme, 
and its boundaries not being defined by fence or 
hedge, the postillion and guide was at liberty to select 
his way ad libitum. Soon after we started, my steed, 
either disliking the spur affixed to my heel or not 
understanding my Yankee dialect, increased his speed 
to such a degree that I was obliged to let go the small 
cord substituted for reins, and cling with tenacity to 
the saddle. After a ride of half a mile or so, John- 
Gilpin-likc, my impetuous charger halted at a rustic 
cabin, whei'e he evidently had, at some former time, 
been Aorse-pitably entertained. I there made some 
alterations in the bridle, and keeping my heels (par- 
ticularly the offending one) as far from his susceptible 
sides as possible, succeeded in reaching my place of 
destination in safety. 

After waiting two or three hours without seeing or 



114 Havana. 

hearing anything from the rest of our party, some six 
or eight in number, my friends made a hasty exami- 
nation of the premises and returned to Guines, leav- 
ing me to pursue the rest of my journey alone. I 

subsequently learned that Mr. and Mrs. S having 

unknowingly taken the only public volante in that 
enterprising town, no conveyance could be procured 
for the other ladies, consequently they all took the 
return train to Havana without having accomplished 
the object of their journey. 

I remained at this ingenio long enough to give it a 
careful examination, and to obtain from the gentle- 
manly proprietor much valuable information. This 
estate contains two thousand acres, nearly three-fourths 
of which are now planted with cane, which produces, 
on an average, about fifteen hundred hogsheads of 
sugar each year, besides a small quantity of molasses, 
and a liquor called aguardiente^ a kind of domestic 
rum made from the refuse cane. These cane fields, in 
the distance, look like immense fields of giant broom- 
corn ; with nothing to break the monotony, except 
the white mansion of the overseer, surrounded by a 
few straggling shade-trees, and the large sugar manu- 



Cutting the Sugar Cane. ii^ 

factory, with dense volumes of black smoke ascend- 
ing from its tall, spectre-like chimney. 

The cane ripens but oni3e a year, and must be cut 
as soon as it is sufficiently mature. Therefore, during 
the cutting season all the available help on the plan- 
tation is brought into requisition — old and young, 
male and female ; in fact, every creature that is strong 
enough to wield a machele, or cutting knife, is obliged 
to labor in the field during the entire day and a part 
of the night, until the cane is cut and secured. In 
the sugar districts of the United States, the cane has 
often to be cut and manufactured within a period of 
four or five weeks, to escape the frost, and frequently 
has to be gathered before it is fully ripe. But here, 
the season is always favorabk^ for ripening the cane, 
which grows almost spontaneously. Little or no 
labor is necessary in its cultivation, and the time for 
gathering tlie cane and making it into sugar, is ex- 
tended through a period of from three to four months. 
In Louisiana the cane has to be replanted nearly 
every year. But the climate here is so favorable, and 
the soil so deep and fertile, that it will ^^roduce satis- 
factory crops for eight or ten years without being 



Il6 Havana. 

renewed ; and there are estates on this island that 
have not been replanted within the memory of the 
oldest inhabitants. It is said that the cane-fields on 
the island of St. Thomas, which were planted more 
than a century ago by the Portuguese, still flourish 
and yield remunerating crops. These facts show the 
great disadvantages under which sugar planters in 
the Southern States labor, compared with those simi- 
larly engaged in Cuba and other tropical countries. 

There are two methods of making sugar on this 
island. One is called the " centrifugal process," 
where steam and machinery are employed : the other 
the " claying process," where the work is chiefly done 
by manual and animal labor. The first is very expe- 
ditious, but requires complicated machinery,, skilful 
engineers, and a large outlay of capital. The other is 
more simple and less expensive,, but requires a much 
longer time in its manufacture. This mgenio is con- 
ducted upon the first-named plan, and the manner of 
making sugar here is substantially as follows. After 
the cane is cut and the green top removed, the main 
stalk is carried to the crushing-mill and the juice 
pressed out between two immense cylindrical rollers 



Sugar-Making. 1 1 7 

moved by steam. The crushed cane is then taken 
away by the women and children and spread out in 
the sun, like new-mown hay, to dry. When suffi- 
ciently cured it is housed in sheds, erected for the 
purpose, to be used as fuel for the engines. The cane- 
juice passes from the crushing-mill directly into an 
immense reservoir beneath ; from there it is con- 
ducted into shallow vats filled with small steam pipes, 
which purge the juice from all extraneous matter. 
It is next transferred to a long row of copper caldrons, 
where it is boiled down to a sirup, the scum being 
removed as fast as it appears on the surface. After 
it has attained the requisite color and consistency, it 
is drawn off into large shallow vats to cool. By the 
side of these vats are arranged a number of circular 
iron hoppers each holding a bushel or more. These 
hoppers, or rather cylinders, are double thickness ; 
the outside being of solid iron, while the lining is of 
fine Mnre cloth, with a space of a few inches between. 
This space is filled with the saccharine mixture, and 
the hopper which is connected with the engine is set 
in motion. After it has made several thousand revo- 
lutions, at the rate of about two thousand each minute. 



li8 Havana. 

the motion is arrested and you discover that the inner 
surface of the wire cylinder is thickly covered with 
rich yellow sugar, beautifully crystallized and ready 
for use. What falls to the bottom is molasses, which 
is put up in hogsheads for market, or used for distil- 
lation. The sugar made by this "centrifugal process," 
called "Muscovado," is^bout the only kind sent to 
the United States for refining and other purposes. 
The other process is slow and tedious compared with 
that just described, although the clayed sugar is 
whiter, and in some respects superior in quality to 
the muscovado. After the juice is boiled down to 
the required consistenc}'-, it is put into tin or earthen 
moulds shaped like a funnel, each holding about fifty 
pounds. On the top is placed a layer of soft pipe-clay 
an inch or two in thickness, the liquid portion of 
which percolates through the sugar and carries all 
impurities with it out at the orifice. In three or four 
weeks the dry clay is removed from the top, the 
funnel inverted, and a large cone of sugar is presented 
to the view. It is usually divided into three quali- 
ties : that portion of the loaf through which the clay 
first passes being the purest, is put up in boxes by 



Congoes and Coolies. 119 

itself, and is known to the commercial world as white 
Havana sugar. This is the best quality to be obtained 
here, and is about equal to our lowest grades of white 
coffee-sugar. 

The manual labor on these plantations is performed 
almost entirely by slaves — " Congoes" as they are 
called here, and " Coolies" f^om the Celestial Empire. 
These two classes of operatives, though intimately 
associated, are by no means alike in appearance or dis- 
position. The former are natives of Africa, jet black, 
with short crispy hair, and are slaves for life. The 
latter are of Asiatic origin, copper-colored, with long, 
straight, black hair, and are slaves for a term of years. 
They are less stubborn and intractable than the negro, 
but more crafty, unprincipled, and revengeful ; and 
if thwarted in any of their designs, or punished, how- 
ever slightly, for any offence, they frequently commit 
suicide, knowing that the loss of their services would 
be a serious inconvenience, if not a great pecuniary 
misfortune to their masters. It appears that these 
Coolies go into servitude voluntarily. They enter 
into contract with the importer or his agent in China, 
to serve them or their assigns duriner a term of eigrht 



1 20 Havana. 

years from the date of the agreement, for the nominal 
sum of four dollars a month. At the expiration of 
that time they are to be sent back to their own coun- 
try — if they are alive and desire to return — free of 
charge or expense to themselves. A bond to that 
effect is required by the Chinese authorities before 
they will allow their subjects to be taken away. So 
great is the demand on this island for the labor of 
these orientals, that the importer frequently receives 
a bonus of three or four hundred dollars per 
head for their services during eight years, notwith- 
standing their ignorance of the Spanish language, 
liability to disease, and well-known propensity to 
commit suicide upon the slightest provocation. Car- 
goes of these oriental productions are of frequent arri- 
val, and their importation has become an important 
item in the commerce of Cuba. 

During the manufacturing season — a period of 
about four months — the ingtnio presents a scene of 
unceasing labor and activity. The engine is kept at 
work night and da}^, and the slaves are allowed but 
four or five hours' sleep out of the twenty-four; 
althougli at other times they can, if they choose, sleep 



Sugar Noblemen. 121 

from tlie settinfr to the risino; of tlie sun. Notwith- 
standing this increase of labor, the slaves do not 
appear to dread the sugar season, for they arc better 
fed during that period, and are allowed many pri- 
vileges and indulgences that they do not have at 
other times, and which, to them, are more than equi- 
valent to any excess of labor that may be imposed on 
them. 

The growing of cane is very profitable. It affords 
a much larger profit on the outlay than either coffee 
or tobacco ; consequently the cultivation of the latter 
products has been considerably neglected here of late. 
Some of the largest and best managed ingenios on this 
island yield an income of over two hundred thousand 
dollars, while the profits of many of the smaller 
estates average from fifty to a hundred thousand 
annually. Some of these wealthy planters being 
ambitious to improve the pedigree of their posterity, 
as well as their own social position, purchase for 
themselves a title from the court of Spain, that of a 
conde or count costing about twenty-five thousand 
dollars. This class are designated as " sugar noble- 
men," and are looked upon with extreme disfavor by 



122 Havana. 

tlie old Spanish noblesse, most of whom inherit 
their titles from their ancestors. They regard these 
new-fledged aristocrats of plebeian origin as imperti- 
nent interlopers, and unfit associates for the genuine 
Castilian nobility or their lineal descendants. 

Societ}^ here appears to be divided into three or 
four distinct classes or grades. First in point of 
caste — according to the Spanish classification — are 
the natives of old Spain, comprising many of the 
nobility, the clergy, officers in the army and under 
government, and a few planters and merchants. Class 
number two comprises the lawj^ers, bankers, mer- 
chants, planters, and retired citizens of wealth among 
the Creoles or native Cubans. In this class are also 
to be found many persons of wealth, intelligence, and 
with sufficient capacity to "scale the highest round in 
ambition's ladder," were there not insuperable barriers 
to their progress in that direction. According to the 
Spanish laws, no native Cuban can hold any office of 
honor, trust, or emolument on this island, either in 
the army, the church, or under government. They 
are not even allowed to serve as privates in the regular 
armj^ although a regiment of free blacks is now in 



Classes of Society. i 23 

the volunteer service. The rigid exclusion from all 
offices of honor and trust in the land of their birth is 
extremely galling to the Creole population, many of 
whom regard with an uncompromising dislike those 
sent here from the mother country to rule over them, 
and to be supported at their expense. This is literally 
the case ; for Cuba pays all the expenses of its own 
government, both civic and military ; maintains a 
standing army of at least thirty thousand soldiers, 
besides an inconsiderable navy ; supports a great 
number of priests and clergy, and sends an annual 
remittance to Spain. The third class is composed of 
free negroes (of which there are about one hundred 
and fifty thousand on the island), half-breeds, and the 
lowest order of the peasantry. The fourth class com- 
prises the coolies and the entire slave population, 
" numbering not ilir from five hundred thousand soitfe;" 
but this phrase is a solecism, as the Cubans do not 
generally allow that their slaves have any souls except 
those supplied by nature to their pedal extremities. 

The laws of Cuba in regard to slavery are so strin- 
gent and rigidly enforced that the slaves on this island 
are exempt from many of the abuses they receive in 



124 Havana. 

the Southern States, although there is apparently no 
affection existing between master and slave. Accord- 
ing to the Cuban slave code, those only between the 
ages of sixteen and sixty can be tasked, and when 
incapacitated for labor they are to be allowed a 
permanent subsistence. 

They are not to be worked more than, ten hours 
a day except during the sugar season, when they 
may be employed for sixteen or eighteen hours, but 
with an increased quantity of food, including a few 
specified luxuries. The quantity of food, both animal 
and vegetable, for their daily allowance, and the cloth- 
ing they are to have during the year, is regulated by 
law. On Sundays and during the Holy days, they are 
not to be employed more than two hours in the service 
of their masters, except when the gathering of the 
sugar-cane admits of no delay ; the rest of the time 
they must be allowed to attend to their gardens and 
private occupations. They are also protected in 
the enjoyment of a certain amount of property, and 
may apply their earnings to the purchase of their 
liberty. Many have already availed themselves of 
this law, so favorable to emancipation, and it is sup- 



A Coffee Plantation. 125 

posed tliat there are at this time over a hundred 
thousand free-blacks on this island. The laws here 
are very stringent in regard to corporal punishment. 
No slave can receive more than twenty-five lashes for 
any offence; if he has committed a crime the judicial 
authorities must decide his mode of punishment, and 
as to its severity. A master who violates the slave- 
code is heavily fined, and sometimes punished by 
imprisonment. 

After having " sugared up " my truculent steed 
with a generous allowance of cane (for quadruped as 
well as biped appears to be fond of the saccharine 
plant), and refreshed myself with a few of the deli- 
cious products of the orange tree, I rode over to a 
cafetal, or coffee plantation, some two miles distant, 
where I spent an hour or two very pleasantly. This 
estate was not in a very prosperous condition, and 
did not quite come up to my expectations. I had 
heard such glowing descriptions of these plantations, 
that I expected to witness a scene of unsurpassed 
natural beauty ; to revel amid such wealth of fruit, 
foliage, and flowers, that I would almost imagine my- 
self in a terrestrial paradise. But I can easily imagine 



126 Havana. 

that a well arranged cafetal in full bloom and in a 
flourishing condition must be a beautiful sight. The 
coffee shrub attains a height of ten or twelve feet, but 
is usually kept " headed down " to about six feet, to 
facilitate the picking of the berries. It has large 
glossy leaves of a deep green color, and a profusion 
of white flowers which grow in clusters at the base 
of the leaf. It is generally planted in squares of 
about eight acres, separated from each other by broad 
avenues lined with double rows of cocoa-nut trees or 
palms. Extending over these squares, at regular 
intervals, are rows of banana, orange, lime, pome- 
granate, and other trees* of smaller size and denser 
foliage, to protect the coffee-plant from the sun, its 
scorching rays being too severe for the delicate leaves 
and flowers. This plant is said to blossom five or six 
times during the year, although but a small portion 
of the flowers produce berries, which are at first 
green, then red, and when fully ripe of a deep brown 
color. It is seldom that more than two crops of coffee 
mature during the year, and the labor of tending, 
picking, drying, aiid shelling the berry, is performed 
by the slave women and chiMren. To bring a coffee 



The Coffee Plant. 127 

plantation into fall bearing requires about four years. 
Eacli plant yields from eight ounces to a pound of 
coffee at a picking, and will continue to bear, if pro- 
perly attended to, for a great number of years. This 
plant is not indigenous to Cuba, although the soil and 
climate are tolerably well adapted to its growth. The 
disastrous hurricanes which occasionally visit this 
island, damaging and destroying many of the coffee 
estates, together with its almost profitless culture, 
when compared with sugar, or even tobacco, have 
materially diminished its cultivation. 

Notwithstanding the. somewhat dilapidated appear- 
ance of this cafeta\ it contained much that to me was 
novel and interesting ; and I could imagine that in 
its prosperous days — when the innumerable trees 
which dot its squares were bending beneath the 
weight of their golden fruitage, and the various 
climbing plants, which now revel on tree-top and 
hedge, were covered with flowers of almost every 
hue and odor, and the cofFee-shrub in full bloom, 
with its rich evergreen foliage profusely covered 
with snow-white flowers — it must indeed have 
been a beautiful sight, and pleasurably suggestive 



1 28 Havana. 

of the spot where our " first parents " passed the 
honey-moon. 

The principal avenue leading from the highway to 
the house belonging to the estate was nearly a quar- 
ter of a mile long, and lined on each side with mag- 
nificent specimens of the royal palm — the pahna real 
of Cuban fame, which is the monarch of all tropical 
trees as emphatically as the lion is king of all beasts. 
These palms were from fifty to sixty feet high. 
Their white, ring-circled bodies gently swelling in 
the centre and diminishing in circumference at each 
end, were of uniform size, and as perfect in shape as 
if fashioned by the plastic hand of man ; without a 
limb, knot, or excrescence of any kind to mar the 
symmetry of their smooth and beautifully rounded 
bodies. The leaves were from ten to twenty feet 
long, a dozen or more forming the tuft or head of 
each tree, looking in the distance like immense plumes 
of ostrich-feathers. These grand old specimens of 
Cuban arborescence were planted on each side of 
the avenue at regular intervals, their drooping tops 
forming noble arches of living verdure, through 
which the golden sunlight faintly streamed, illu- 



The Palm Tree. 129 

minating the "green solemnity" of this majestic 
colonnade. 

This is unquestionably one of the richest botanical 
regions of the globe, and I have been very much 
interested in many of its wonderful productions. 
Not being familiar with the Spanish language, or 
skilled in the nomenclature of tropical trees and 
plants, I had considerable difficulty in finding out 
the names and habits of many of the trees peculiar 
to this island. It was truly a "pursuit of knowledge 
under difficulties," and if the description I shall here 
give of a few of the principal varieties be correct, I 
shall be satisfied that my well-meant labors have not 
been in vain. 

The various kinds of palms are probably unsur- 
passed, for beauty and utility, by any of the large 
trees on this island. The wood is used for many 
kinds of building purposes, and the enormous 
leaves, when mature, for thatching the cottages of 
the natives ; while the young foliage, when boiled, is 
said to be as delicate as cabbage, and its seeds or nuts 
are excellent food for swine. Each tree has about 

twenty leaves, which are shed at regular intervals 

6 



130 Havana. 

duriDg the year, leaving a circle of gum on the 
trunk, wliich remains indelible, and by that means 
the age of the tree can be determined with considera- 
ble certainty. The palm is said to live for more than 
two hundred years, and begins to bear fruit when 
about eighteen years old. 

Among the trees most valued for its wood are the 
mahogany and the Cedreh odordta, a species of cedar, 
which is available for a great variety of uses ; cigar- 
boxes are made of it, also the doors of many dwell- 
ings, as it is susceptible of a polish almost equal to 
mahogany. Among the numerous other trees to 
which my attention has been directed, are the huge, 
ill-shaped ceyba, with its innumerable progeny of air- 
plants, which cover its branches, and enjoy a kind of 
"squatter sovereignty" on premises not their own; 
the lofty, cloud-aspiring cocoa-palm, with its green, 
tufted head depending in graceful beauty, and dis- 
playing its clusters of fruit at various stages of matu- 
rity, from the half-opened flower to the full-grown 
fruit ; the indispensable calabash or " poor-man's 
furnishing-house," with its immense globular fruit of 
adamantine hardness, which supplies the natives with 



Tropical Vegetation. 131 

most of their culinary utensils ; the tamarind, with 
its acidulous fruit, and delicately cut leaves of green, 
in beautiful contrast with the deep blue of the sky, 
as seen through its gossamer foliage ; the bright and 
delicate bamboo, growing in luxuriant clumps, grace- 
ful in its form, and bending to the slightest breeze ; 
and the mango, with its long racemes of kidney- 
shaped fruit, and with foliage so dense as to yield a 
grateful shade from the scorching rays of a tropical 
sun. Time will not permit me to describe all the fruit 

" The trees of this fair island bore, 
Whose balmy fragrance hu-ed the tongue to taste 
Their flavors : Here bananas flung to waste 

Their golden flagons with thick honey tilled ! 

From splintered cups the ripe pomegranates spilled 
A shower of rubies : oranges that glow 
Like globes of fire, inclose a heart of snow ! 

Here dates of agate and of jasper lay, 

Dropped from the bounty of the pregnant palm, 
And all ambrosial trees, all fruits of balm, 

All flowers of precious odors, made the day 
As sweet as a morn of paradise." 

I was further reminded of the Garden of Eden, by 



132 Havana. 

being shown a tree wliicli some of tlie credulous na- 
tives believe to be tlie " Tree of Knowledge," wliicli 

bore that fruit 

" whose mortal taste 

Brought death into the world and all our woe." 

This island abounds in parasitical plants, which 
creep over shrubs and trees, and like the hanging moss 
on the gums and cypresses of our southern forests, 
appear to derive most of their sustenance from the 
air. The Jaquay-macho^ one of the most destructive 
of these parasites, commences to grow on the limbs 
or body of the tree ; extending its fibres in every 
direction, and increasing in size and strength, until 
it wraps the whole tree in its fatal embrace. This 
death-struggle may continue for j^ears, but in the end, 
this unfilial parasite, which nourishes itself with the 
life of its foster-parent, will be conqueror. 

This phenomenon is thus explained. The seeds 
of the jaquay are carried by birds, or lodged by the 
wind among the branches of some neighboring tree, 
where they germinate, sending out numerous long 
slender fibres, which continue to grow until they 
reach the ground, where they take root. These 



The Jaquay-Macho. 133 

fibres continue to multiply and increase in size until 
they cover the entire body of the tree, when they 
unite, forming a tree of themselves, the heart of which 
is the parent-tree, which first lent it support and gave 
it nourishment — a remarkable instance of filial ingra- 
titude. It is said that when once the jaquay takes 
root, no tree, however large, can resist its destructive 
grasp. It winds itself around it with a slow, unyield- 
ing tenacity, and, like the insidious serpent, tightens 
its hold with every movement, however impercepti- 
ble, until it crushes or smothers its victim in its fatal 
embrace. 



LETTEE X. 

Havana, March, 1856. 

It was quite late in the afternoon when I set out 
on my return to Guines, in anticipation of spending 
a comfortless night at a miserable venta or inn, a 
place where they provide "entertainment for man 
and beast" on the same floor ; and from what I saw 
in the morning, I judged that the sleeping-rooms were 
occupied by bipeds and quadrupeds alternately. I 
was a stranger^ and expected to be " taken in," but 
not in the scriptural sense ; was in the hands of the 
Philistines, but not having the strength of Samson, or 
any "jaw-bone" but my own to defend myself with, 
I knew not what was to be my fate. 

While riding slowly along, absorbed in gloomy 
meditations, I was startled by the sound of voices as 
if in altercation. Looking up, I beheld a spectacle 



Riding Double. 135 

so ludicrous that my risibles were excited in an 
unusual degree. It was a rustico^ or native peasant, 
returning from town, seated on the posteriors of a 
diminutive animal, with his /a?"^e?--half in front of 
him. One arm was around her waist, while with the 
other he guided his Eosinante, which I imagined 
belonged to the "genus asinine," from the length of 
its ears, that being about the only part of the animal 
visible. The man was quietly smoking a cigar, while 
the woman — evidently a virago — was talking Spanish 
with wonderful volubility ; and from her rapid ges- 
ticulations and excited manner, I judged that her 
conversation was not likely to become insipid from 
want of sufficient acrimony. This loving couple 
appeared much better able to carry the animal they 
rode, than the animal to carry them ; but not being 
a reformer of abuses, like the chivalrous Knight of 
La Manclia, I did not think it best to remonstrate. 

A little further on I met a mountain cavalier, on a 
spirited horse, with sword and pistols by his side, and 
with silver spurs so highly burnished, that they glit- 
tered in the bright sunlight like a cluster of diamonds. 
As he passed me, he very politely touched his som- 



136 Havana. 

brero, and with a ^'■huenos dias, Senor-''^' (good day, sir), 
was soon lost in the distance. These monteros inherit 
from their Moorish ancestors their pecuHar attach- 
ment for the horse, and they are accustomed to the 
saddle from their early youth. ' A horse, sword, and 
silver spurs, generally comprise his estate — both real 
and personal. With these chattels he is as inde- 
pendent and happy as if the undisputed possessor of 
a well-stocked plantation. They are to him not only 
a luxury, but a positive necessity, and as indispensa- 
ble to his maintaining " a position" in upper-tendom, 
as is a volante to the social elevation of a Cuban 
senorita. When I first discovered this armed horse- 
man approaching on a full gallop, I confess I was a 
little startled, for we were a long distance from any 
habitation, and I had been told at the ingenio that a 
robbery had been committed in that vicinity the week 
before ; but his respectful salutation relieved me at 
once from all unpleasant suspense. Spanish robbers 
have the reputation of being exceedingly polite, and 
many curious stories are told illustrative of their 
peculiar suaviler in modo. One that I beard recently, 
exhibits such a rare combination of Yankee assur- 



The Polite Footpad. 137 

ance with true Chesterfieldian pohteness, that I will 
relate it. A traveller on horseback was accosted, in 
an unfrequented part of the country, by a footpad. 
" Sir," said he to the gentleman, as he seized his horse 
by the bridle, " I see that j'ou are riding my horse ; 
let me assist you to dismount!" The traveller delibe- 
rately drew a pistol from his pocket, and pointing it 
at the fellow's head, asked him to look again and see 
if he were not mistaken. " Seiior," said the highway- 
man, bowing very low as he relinquished his hold of 
the bridle, " I perceive my mistake. Please to honor 
me with your card, that I may remember you here- 
after in my prayers!" 

As I approached Gruines the sky began to darken, 
and fearing a storm, I put spurs to my horse (notwith- 
standing my former mishap), and rode into town at 
an accelerated pace. As I entered the first street, a 
man rushed out of an adjacent building, seized my 
horse by the bi'idle, and thrusting his brawny hand 
into my face, vociferated '■^ qucwto peso^ M.y first 
thought was of robberj'^ ; but a second convinced me 
that the man was the owner of the animal I was on, 

and only intended to adopt the Cuban mode of rob- 

6* 



138 Havana. 

bery by extortion — a less sumrnar}^, but equally vexa- 
tious mode of being relieved of one's money. I 
dismounted, and handed the fellow a quarter-eagle, 
which was more than he was legally entitled to, and 
more than I was directed to pay by the gentleman 
who procured the animal for me in the morning. He 
threw down the coin, and again vociferated " quarto 
peso''^ (four dollars). Not being able to speak Jm lan- 
guage intelligibly, nor he to understand my vernacu- 
lar, I began to move in the direction of the inn, 
closely followed by my excited companion, talking 
loudly and rapidly gesticulating. As we were pass- 
ing the door of about the only respectable-looking 
house in that vicinity, he seized me by the arm, and 
pushing open the door led me into a room where two 
persons were seated at a table. I began to try to 
make my grievances known in execrable Spanish, 
aided by an attempt at pantomime, supposing that I 
was in the presence of some ubiquitous Spanish 
officials, when one of the gentlemen addressed me in 
English. They proved to be New Yorkers, who 
were boarding at this house, and I was assured by 
them that I had offered the man more than was his 



An Unlooked-for Exemption. 139 

just due ; it being tlic custom of the inhabitants liere 
to extort from strangers ad lihiium. They then called 
the proprietor of the house, who sent the fellow 
adrift with what I had at first paid him. At the 
solicitation of these "good Samaritans," I remained 
there during the night ; had a comfortable room, and 
what was a still greater luxury in Cuba, a clean bed. 
In the morning, after partaking of a passably good 
breakfast, and making my grateful acknowledgments 
to my newly-made friends — I " went on my way 
rejoicing." 

I reached Matanzas by rail the same evening, and 
to my surprise was not called upon to show my per- 
mit at the station, although surrounded by the omni- 
present 23olice, and meeting soldiers at almost every 
step. I attributed this unlooked-for exemption from 
Spanish vigilance, to the fact that just before leaving 
Havana I went into a sastraria — or tailor-shop — to 
procure a change of summer clothing, and could find 
but one suit large enough and that was made for a 
Spanish officer, which the proprietor let me have on 
my paying him an extra ptso. Apparelled in this 
suit of blue and white (a kind of military undress), 



1 40 Havana. 

and a broad-brimmed sombrero, with my beard and 
mustache trimmed in the latest Cuban style, and my 
complexion, naturally dark, deepened by recent expo- 
sure to a tropical sun, into a genuine " Spanish 
brown," I was enabled to pass very well for a native 
as long as I kept my mouth shut. This I did at times 
from prudential motives \ although I must acknow- 
ledge, that, during my sojourn at Havana and other 
places on this island, I have, with a few exceptions, 
been treated with the utmost civility by the inha- 
bitants. 

On the cars I met an intelligent American, the 
overseer of a sugar estate in this vicinity,, who directed 
me to the " Union Hotel" as the best in Matanzas ; at 
the same time he gave me to understand that I would 
find very poor accommodations. I am surprised that 
a city of nearly tliirty thousand inhabitants should 
contain no better place of entertainment than this 
miserable little 2^osada, dignified by the title of 
"hotel." It was a low, unpainted wooden building, 
a story and a half high, and contained about a dozen 
miserable seven-by-nine lodging rooms. Tlic one I 
occupied was on the second floor, and barely large 



A Night with the Insects. 141 

enough to accommodate the furniture, which con- 
sisted of a narrow cot-bedstead, a cedar table, and one 
rickety chair. I found no diflicuhy in standing erect 
in one part of the room, but as the ceihng descended 
at an angle with the roof, the other side would only 
admit of a stooping posture. The room was neither 
plastered nor ceiled, with no window in the side or end, 
but a small hole in the roof to let the air out and the 
musquitoes in. 

Making a virtue of necessity I spent one night in 
this miserable abode, which was all that I could 
endure, being so annoyed by cockroaches and other 
insects (for Cuban insects, like Spanish flics, are very 
irriiatiyig) that I got but little sleep. I lay all night 
rolling and tumbling on my bed of unrest engaged in 
the delightful occupation of fighting sanguinary mus- 
quitoes, and in praying for Morpheus or daylight to 
come to my relief In the morning I arose with the 
sun, and thrusting my head out of the hole in the 
roof, snuffed the breezes of heaven with the avidity of 
a convict just" escaped from some loathsome dungeon. 
Finding that breakfast would not be read}^ until nine 
o'clock (some three hours later), I contented myself 



142 Havana. 

with a roll and a cup of coffee prepared for some 
early riser, and called for ray bill, which was only two 
dollars and a half — a yery moderate demand for one 
night's lodging (but not sleeping), and " a hasty cup" 
of a miserable muddy mixture called coffee. How- 
ever, I paid the bill without comment, being glad to 
get away at almost any pecuniary sacrifice, as I was 
fearful that another night of such wholesale depletion 
would not leave blood enough in my system to 
"honor the hilk"' of any other mercenary musquitoes 
that I might encounter during my peregrinations. 
One more such depletory ordeal, I opine, would bank- 
rupt me physically, and leave me without sufficient 
vitality to pay cmy debt, save the final " debt to 
nature." * * * Matanzas has a population of 
over twcnt3--live thousand, and is next in commercial 
importance to Havana, which place it somewhat 
resembles ; although its streets are considerably wider, 
and it has less the appearance of a tropical city. It 
has its Plaza de Armas like Havana, also a cathedral, 
hospital, barracks, and other public buildings. Yet 
the city itself is dull and uninteresting when compared 
with its more opulent neighbor. The country lying 



Description of Matanzas. 143 

around Matanzas is quite elevated, and some of the 
scenery is wild and beautifully picturesque. Not far 
distant is a crescent-shaped mountain called the Cum- 
bre, the top of which is nearly three thousand feet 
above the sea. It is a favorite resort for strangers, as 
it is easy of access and affords a panoramic view that, 
for extent, variety, and beauty, is unsurpassed in the 
tropics. Matanzas lies on the sloping lands between 
the Cumbre and the sea, and is gradually creeping up 
the sides of the mountain, whose summit is crowned 
with pleasant villas and the residences of the wealthy 
planters who own estates in the valle}'. The view 
from the top is almost boundless, extending at least 
fifty miles in several different directions. On one side 
was the city with its quaint old Moorish towers and 
turreted battlements; its low, parti-colored buildings, 
with fiat tiled roofs, and its spacious harbor, in which 
many " a ship with folded wings lay sleeping on the 
tide." Beyond, was the broad, unfathomable ocean, 
with its myriads of white-capped waves — 

" Chanting in wildly measured cliorus 
Their hymn of majesty." 



144 Havana. 

On the other side, at its very feet, as it were, reposed 
in quiet beauty the lovely valley of the Yumuri, 
with its waving fields of giant-cane, its cafetals and 
orange plantations, surrounded by hedges, and the 
white-winged mansions of the owners, half hidden in 
tropical verdure ; with here and there a palm-thatched 
cottage with a solitary cocoa-nut tree, rising high 
above the roof,, and overshadowing it like a protect- 
ing deity. 

Scattered over the intervening space were groves 
of the mango, banana, orange, and other tropical 
fruits,, with an occasional thicket of bamboo, their 
tall, green, waving, feathery forms, yielding to the 
slightest breeze, and glistening with an almost eme- 
rald brilliancy in the sunshine of a bright spring 
morning. It was a scene that cannot well be de- 
scribed ; a picture that wouki require the magic 
pencil of a Titian to delineate. 

On my return to the city, I repaired to the cathe- 
dral, where I witnessed a scene entirely different from 
the one I had just been contemplating. Here was a 
display of priests and pagcantr}^, of incense and ado- 
ration. Here were beautiful ladies in rich attire, 



Scene In the Cathedral. 145 

reclinuig upon gay bits of carpet spread on the 
marble floor. Here were spruce looking senors in 
black dress-coats and white gloves, bowing before the 
altar, but evidently more interested in their fair fellow- 
worshippers than in the prosy pater-nostcrs of the 
portly bishops and sanctimonious priests. The inte- 
rior of the church was profusely decorated with gold 
and silver ornaments and artificial flowers. The 
gilded trappings of the various altars glistened in the 
light of innumerable wax candles, and the air was 
fragrant with incense from censers borne about by 
young novitiates, in embroidered caps and sacerdotal 
robes. These, together with the festal costumes of 
the audience, who were constantly coming and going, 
presented rather an undcvout aspect to a stranger 
and a Protestant. 

A company of soldiers soon came marching in to 
the sound of the fife and drum. Stacking their arms 
in the centre of the church, they dropped on one knee, 
and with bowed heads and arms crossed upon their 
breasts awaited their turn at the confessional, which 
was then occupied by [the " less sinful sex." I judged, 
however, from the length of time some of them were 



1 46 Havana. 

engaged with their confessors, that their sins must 
have been very scarlet. I observed that the youngest 
and best looking priests were assigned to the ladies. 
"Tliis might have been accidental, but I could not 
help thinking that it was so designed. These padres 
sat in their confessional boxes, with their feces close 
to the lattice-work separating them from the fair 
kneeling penitents, who were listening to the words 
of consolation or — something else — which- Dame Ru- 
mor says these wily priests not unfrequently delight 
to pour into their two willing ears. The Cuban ladies 
have the reputation of being particularly susceptible 
to the tender passion, and oft-times " love not wisely, 
but too well." 

I have been very much impressed here, as well as 
in Havana, with the disparity in size and physical 
development between the Cuban ladies and gentle- 
men of the better classes. The gentlemen, as a sex, 
are the most diminutive specimens of male humanity 
that I have ever seen. I refer more particularly to 
the Cuban aristocrac}-, for the highest classes, to speak 
paradoxically, are perpendicularly the lowest The 
cause of this diminution in stature has been attributed 



The Cuban Ladies. 147 

to excessive smoking daring their boyhood, and inter- 
marriage of kindred during many generations. The 
men are as remarkable for tenuity as the women for 
pkimpness. The males are small, thin — mere atomic 
specimens of humanity, while the females are almost 
without exception rotund, and of fair proportions. 
Notwithstanding the Cuban ladies, both plebeian and 
patrician, are slightly embonpoint^ they are instinct- 
ively graceful and easy in their bearing. They have 
not the elastic step and Terpsichorean agility of the 
French ; but " a seducing grace of motion," an im- 
passioned abandon of manner, characterize all their 
movements, whether at worship in church, coquetting 
on the Plaza, or in the giddy mazes of the dance, 
when 

" to the low voluptuous swoons 

Of music, rise and foil the moons 

Of their full Lrowu hosonis." 

How gracefully they float through the delicious mazes 
of the contradanza, to the soft entrancing music of that 
luxurious dance! Their graceful motions and undu- 
lating movements are but the " rh^-thmic utterances" 
of their most-too-tropieally-languid lives. The contra- 



148 Havana, 

danza is the dance, par excellence, of the Cuban salons ; 
while the fandango^ accompanied by the tinkling of a 
guitar and the lively rattle of the inspiring castanets, 
is the favorite with the peasantrj'. They dance upon 
the lea, by the wayside, or beneath the shade of some 
"umbrageous tree or vine-clad bower. In fact, when- 
ever a few of these rustic belles and beaux meet toge- 
ther after the labors of the da.y, if a guitar can be had, 
they are sure to indulge in their favorite amusement. 
These peasant women dance well from instinct, and 
in all their movements they exhibit a peculiar grace, 
with a freedom from those awkward gestures and un- 
becoming attitudes so often to be seen among that 
class of females in the United States. A recent tra- 
veller in Cuba has expressed his belief that a really 
awkward woman does not exist on the island. Whe- 
ther bred in the city or country, in the humble cottage 
of the montero, in the retired mansion of the planter, 
or the lowly dwelling of the artisan, she is sure to be 
easy and graceful in her bearing, if not possessed of 
all the polish and dilettantcism of an educated and 
highly cultivated life. 

My next stopping-place was Cardenas, a flourishing 



Cardenas. 149 

sea-port town of some six thousand inhabitants, the 
great Cuban mart for sugar and molasses. Thousands 
of hogsheads were piled upon its wharves, ready for 
shipment, and its numerous warehouses were literally 
" running over" with treacle. As there was but little 
to interest me in and around Cardenas, my stay there 
was short. The evening of the second day found me 
on board of a small steamer which plies between that 
place and Havana. Not being familiar with the rules 
and regulations of Cuban steamboats, or acquainted 
with the language, I was at a loss how to procure a 
stateroom or berth for the night. During my school- 
boy days I was often made to " walk Spanish," but 
was never taught the dialect ; consequently, I could 
not obtain the information I desired in a legitimate 
way, and was obliged to substitute Yankee assurance 
for Spanish cognition, and abide the result. 

Among the passengers who came on board, I noticed 
a stout, thick-set, benevolent-looking individual, who 
attracted my attention from his being the most adipose 
specimen of male humanity that I had seen during 
my stay on the island. He was well-dressed, scrupu- 
lously neat in his appearance, and carried a cigar 



1 50 Havana. 

beliind his ear, in the place of a pen, giving to him a 
commercial air, and establishing beyond peradventure 
his calling. I resolved in my mind to follow this man, 
and to imitate his movements as far as practicable. 
He proceeded immediately to the cabin, and placed 
the satchel he carried in his hand in an unoccupied 
berth. I did the same, then followed him to the ticket 
ofiEice, where he laid down a gold coin with tlic words 
'■^holetin por Habana.'''' I echoed his expression, ten- 
dered my coin, and the same results followed. I was 
quite elated at the success of my ruse, by which I had 
secured a passage-ticket and a berth for the night with- 
out the assistance of an interpreter, and added a few 
words to my vocabulary of Spanish without the aid 
of a text book, or any superfluous waste of the " mid- 
night oil." Being in a peculiarly self-complacent 
mood, and not anticipating any further impediment 
to a successful voyage, I left the crowded passages of 
the vessel, and sought a retired place on deck where 
I could commune with Nature and my own thoughts 
undisturbed, and free from the annoyance of the com- 
bined odor of garlic and cigar-smoke. 

The night was beautiful ; the sky serene, and the 



An Evening at Sea. 151 

air of such transparent purity and balminess, that the 
very breathing of it was to me a luxury and a delight. 
I remained for hours inhaling the delicious, health- 
giving atmosphere, and contemplating the scene 
before me, which was of unsurpassed beauty and 
grandeur. The sombre Ocean with her depths un- 
known lay in one vast "melancholy waste" before me. 
The throbbings of her gigantic heart were hushed as 
if by some magic spell, as our little steamer pursued 
its almost trackless way over her calm unruffled bosom, 
with the solemn sky above 

" Like a blue curtain hung, 
And studded with its bright star-gems 
As diamonds yet unstrung." 

While low down in the heavens was visible in all its 
splendor, through the soft transparent darkness, that 
brilliant cluster of stars known as the Southern Cross, 
with its foot apparently almost resting on the earth. 
This beautiful constellation — this bright gem in " the 
dusky tiara of night," is invisible in our latitude, but 
is here revealed in all its beauty. At midnight the 
cross is said to stand erect, but as the night wears away 



152 Havana. 

it begins to decline, and gradually sinks until lost to 
sight beneath the horizon's verge. 

When I retired to the cabin, I found it occupied by 
a motley assemblage of persons, consisting of priests, 
officers, tradesmen, and others whose exterior gave 
no evidence of their occupation ; but, if I may be 
allowed the Yankee prerogative of ^'guessing," I 
should say that many of them were dealers in cigars, 
or excessive smokers, from the enormous quantity of 
" the weed " which they carried with them. The 
man of substance, whose shadow I had been personi- 
fying, was lazily reclining in his berth, smoking a 
cigar, and looked the very picture of contentment 
and good-nature ; so much so, in fact, that I was half 
inclined to doubt his being a native of the island. 
Near him was seated an officer, a grave Castilian, 
who preserved a dignified demeanor, and neither 
spoke nor noticed those by whom he was surrounded. 
Among the passengers were several sallow-faced priests, 
whose ^ar^er-ously denuded heads were surmounted 
by small square caps of black silk. They were all 
attired in the sombre garb of their order, and were re- 
markably quiet and unobtrusive in their deportment. 



The Wrong Berth. 153 

The heat of the atmosphere, together with the 
fames of tobacco with which the cabin was filled, 
began, to produce a somnolent effect upon me ; con- 
sequently I retired to my berth, and after arrang- 
ing my musquito net about me, sought communion 
with the drowsy god Morpheus. I had but just 
fallen asleep when I was awakened by a heavy hand 
on my shoulder. Starting up, I beheld standing 
over me a fierce-looking Spaniard, with a Moorish 
complexion, which, by the dim light of a single 
lamp, looked black and defiant as a jealous Othello. 
He was talking loudly, and apparently much excited. 
I soon discovered that / was the innocent cause of 
this fierce ebullition of passion. I had evidently got 
into the wrong berth ; the one I occupied was his by 
berth-Tight, but mine by possession. Finding that he 
could not make me understand his vernacular, he 
left the cabin, and in a few minutes returned with one 
of the officers • of the vessel. They both tried by 
expressive pantomime and unintelligible Spanish, to 
make me sensible of my " poaching proclivities ; " 
but in vain. I could not be made to understand, — 

was dull of comprehension, — as stupid as Balaani's 

7 



154 Havana. 

ass, and would not be moved by tlie jaw-hone even 
of a voluble Spaniard. To their oft repeated ha- 
rangues I shook my head and replied, " Me Ameri- 
cano, no Espanol," and at last impudently turned my 
back to them, drew the bed-clothes over my head, 
and feigned sleep. They remained near me for some 
time, talking in an excited manner, but at length 
their voices became less and less distinct, and finally 
died away in the distance. 

f I lay for awhile perfectly still, but at length re- 
moved the covering from my face, opened one eye, 
and cast an anxious glance at the foot of my berth to 
see if my clothes and satchel were safe, and then took 
a survey of the apartment. A number of men were 
seated at a table playing cards, two or three were 
dozing in their chairs, and one was stretched at full 
length on the floor, his head pillowed on a knapsack, 
and snoring loudly. My nervous system had received 
such a shock that I found it impossible to compose 
myself to sleep. I lay the remainder of the night in 
a half-unconscious state, between sleeping and waking, 
haunted by visions of gorgons, ogres, and other fabu- 
lous monsters. At daylight our steamer was safely 



Return to Havana. 155" 

anchored in the harbor of Havana, and I was happy 
to be once more domiciled beneath the comparatively 
hospitable roof of the Revere Hotel, being satisfied 
with my somewhat limited acquaintance with Cuban 
society and scenery. 



LETTEE XI. 

Havana, March, 1856. 
I HAVE as yet said but little relative to the cus- 
toms and domestic habits of the Cubans, who are 
a peculiar people. Though of more mercurial 
temperaments than their ancestors, the Moors and 
Spaniards, they inherit many of the characteristics of 
those nations. They have the reputation of being 
crafty, subtle, and intriguing in their natures, and 
exceedingly lax in their morals; yet, strange as 
it may appear, they are, with few exceptions, an 
orderly, law-obeying, priest-fearing, but not a God- 
serving people. Notwithstanding nearly every one 
goes armed, instances of assassinations or even en- 
counters are less frequent than in our own country. 
And what was still more surprising to me, they are 
quite temperate both in eating and drinking. I have 



Prevalence of Gambling. i 57 

not observed a single instance of gross and manifest 
intoxication among the inhabitants during my stay 
on the island. Their principal beverage is a light, 
sour, native wine, somewhat resembling Catalonian 
wine. It is quite acid, but not inebriating in its 
effects, unless drunk in extravagant quantities. 

The prevalent and all-absorbing vice in this coun- 
try is gambling. This passion pervades all classes of 
society, from the noble count, witli his broad acres 
and army of slaves, to the native peasant and humble 
artisan. The Plaza de Toros, where bull-fights are 
held, and the numerous cock-pits scattered over the 
island, are government property, from which the 
Crown of Spain derives no inconsiderable revenue. 
On Sundays and high festivals, cock-fighting and bull- 
fighting offer their chief attractions. In fact, I have 
been told that the law regulating these amusements 
forbids their taking place on any other daj-s than 
Sundays and religious holidays. Monte is the popular 
game of cards with the Cuban peasantrv, who spend 
many an idle hour stretched upon the ground beneath 
the shade of some favorite tree, engaged in this seduc- 
tive amusement. "When once they begin to play, 



1 58 Havana. 

they will not leave off as long as either has a peseta 
in his pocket, or a camisa on his back ; and they fre- 
quently become so excited in the game as to stake 
their entire wardrobe on the result, leaving one of 
them at the close almost in puris naturalihus^ that is 
to say, with but little more covering than was fur- 
nished him by Dame Nature when he was first ushered 
into this "breathing world." A few years ago 
gambling was practised here as openly and as undis- 
guisedly as at many of the German watering-places. 
But I learn that an effort is being made by the 
authorities here to suppress all kinds of gambling, 
where no revenue will be lost to the government by 
their discontinuance. Notwithstanding this, the vice 
is prevalent, particularly on the Sabbath and during 
the Holy days, both of which might with propriety 
be termed holidays. For there is, in reality, no Sab- 
bath here ; no day of physical rest ; no cessation 
from labor ; no abatement of pleasures. From the 
rising of the sun to the setting of the same (except 
during midday), even to a late hour at night, it is one 
continued round of excitement, of gaieties, and 
amusements. The ringing of bells, firing of cannon, 



A Sabbath at Havana 159 

and the sound of martial music usher in the Sabbath 
morning. The various shops and stores are open as 
on all other days. The theatre, mascardda, and Plaza 
de Toros, are made a specialite on that occasion ; 
cries are heard in the streets from the venders of 
fruits and vegetables ; and everything pertaining to 
business or pleasure assumes on that day a more than 
ordinarily busy aspect. How entirely unlike a Sabbath 
in any of our northern towns, and how at variance 
with the sentiments and feelings of one brought up 
to respect that holy day. And yet the inhabitants 
all seem to be impressed with no small degree of 
reverence for their priests and their religion. The 
peasant market-man, with his long line of heavily- 
laden mules, bows his head and makes the sign of the 
cross when he passes a church ; the sable calesero, as 
he dashes by with his mistress in her volante, lifts his 
sombrero reverentially ; and the dirty, half-clad 
native children are taught to cease from playing, and 
to refrain from all noise or merriment when they are 
within its sacred precincts. 

The visitor in Havana is continually reminded of 
the ubiquity of Romanism, and its peculiar influence 



i6o Havana. 

on the minds and morals of the people. The " carry- 
ing of the Host" through the streets is a spectacle of 
frequent occurrence, and cannot fail to inspire one, 
particularly at night, with feelings of solemnity. 
The tinkling of a small bell usually announces the 
approach of the Host, when every good Eomanist 
within its sound uncovers his head, bends his knee, 
and maintains a devotionarattitude until the proces- 
sion has passed out of sight. These processions 
usually consist of half-a-dozen or more monks or 
friars, in long black robes (their closely shorn heads 
exposed without a cap or cowl), and a motley assem- 
blage of men and boys bareheaded, and carrying in 
their hands long wax candles. In their midst is a 
priest bearing the consecrated symbol, to administer 
to some dying person. The number of lights dis- 
played on these occasions, and the extent and magni- 
ficence of the retinue, are usually proportioned to the 
wealth and influence of the invalid or his famil3\ 
Sometimes the priest who carries the sacred Host 
rides in a splendid coach drawn by four horses richly 
caparisoned and attended by outriders in livery, and 
military in full dress. 



Easter Demonstration. l6l 

Last week was the closing of Lent, and during 
Holy Thursday and Good Friday a more than Pro- 
testant Sabbath-day stillness reigned throughout this 
entire city. The shops were all closed, the flags from 
the public buildings lowered, and during these two 
days not a volante or conveyance of any kind was 
allowed in the streets. The " carrying of the dead 
Christ," and the annual procession of the priests and 
military, took place during Good Friday afternoon 
and evening ; and for several hours the various 
streets in the vicinity of the cathedral were thronged 
with pedestrians ; and every balcony and house-top, 
as far as the eye could reach, was densely crowded 
with women and children waiting to see this pageant, 
which was evidently considered " the show of the 
season." A body of cavalry with prancing steeds 
and flashing sabres, prepared the way for the proces- 
sion as it advanced. A martial band with muffled 
drums beating time to a funeral march, and a score 
or two of negroes in long black robes and immaculate 
turbans, and carrying blazing torches, led the way. 
Then came the archbishops, bishops, and high-priests 
in their canonical robes, followed by the " state bed" 



i62 Havana. 

containing a wax figure representing " the dead 
Christ." Suspended above it was a gorgeously embroi- 
dered silken canopy, supported by four intensely 
rouged angels dressed in etliereal gauze, bespangled 
with imitation diamonds. This state bed was carried 
upon the heads of about a dozen men, whose feet 
alone were visible, their bodies being entirely hidden 
by the heavy folds of the voluminous drapery. 
Next in the procession was a retinue of priests, each 
carrying a long wax candle, or some emblem of 
the passion of Christ. In their midst were several 
richly decorated thrones containing the " Virgin 
Mother," " Mary Magdalene," and others, who were 
elaborately attired^ and profusely covered with tinsel 
and artificial flowers. Then came a large body 
of civilians, in black dress-coats and white gloves, 
followed by several regiments of Spanish soldiers 
with their arms reversed and matching with slow 
and measured tread to the dirge-like music of their 
regimental bands. Last in the procession, but not 
least in point of numbers, were the unwashed multi- 
tude, of all colors and castes, who fell in the rear as 
an opportunity offered, adding greatly to the num- 



Tacon Theatre. 163 

ber, but not to the character of this great Easter 
demonstration. 

The next day, the throne containing the Virgin 
Mary was borne with great pomp, parade, and cere- 
mony, through the principal streets of the city, until it 
met the advancing procession with the image of the 
Saviour. As soon as Christ was found, a cannon was 
fired to apprise the inhabitants that fasting was at an 
end ; flags appeared as if by magic, upon all the public 
buildings ; bells were rung, guns fired, drums beaten, 
and every conceivable plan adopted to make a noise. 
Volantes appeared in the streets ; negroes and Creoles 
rushed wildly about, shouting and rejoicing ; and 
a universal jubilee and jollification at once began. 

The next evening I went with a party of American 
naval officers to the Teatro de Tacon, which was then 
open for the first time since the beginning of Lent. 
This celebrated tlieatre is on the Paseo Isabel, and 
nearly opposite the Monserratc gate, the principal 
entrance to the city. The exterior of the Tacon is 
not particularly attractive, but the interior is light, 
airy, well arranged for that climate, and very capa- 
cious, it being one of the largest theatres in America. 



164 Havana. 

Here we witnessed a display of the ubiquitous 
soldiery. A company with glistening bayonets were 
stationed outside the door. Within, were jaunty little 
soldiers in white uniforms, who strutted about, shov- 
ing the Creoles, and making way for gold-laced digni- 
taries ; while officers in military undress were to be 
seen in all parts of the house, imparting to the 
audience a half-military and half-festive appearance. 

If tbere were any " stars" in the dramatic horizon 
that evening, they were not, I opine, of the " first 
magnitude ;" at least, they did not appear to dazzle 
the audience with their brilliancy, or to excite in 
them either mirthftil or lachrymal emotions. For an 
interlude, we had an animated dissertation on the 
poetry of motion from one of the corps de lallet, 
which created quite a sensation among the apprecia- 
tive portion of the audience, who were noisily demon- 
strative, as much to our annoyance as to the delight 
of the smiling danzdnta^ whom they assailed with 
bouquets, until the stage was almost covered with 
these floral evidences of their admiration. 

I was very much surprised at the enthusiasm 
created by this votary of Terpsichore, for she was 



A Danseuse. 165 

by no means a proficient in the saltatory art, neither 
was she young, or particularly attractive in person. 
Her eyes were not of a celestial blue, or like 

" The stars of a soft summer night, 
So darkly beautiful, so deeply bright." 

Her teeth were not as Orient pearls, or her lips like 
two rosebuds growing on one stem. Her hair, though 
abundant, was not as glossy as the raven's plumage, 
or " as soft as the down that swells the cygnet's nest." 
Neither was hers 

" A pure, transparent, pale, and radiant face. 
Like to a lighted alabaster vase." 

Her feet were not as delicate as a fairy's, or her form 
as symmetrical as a sylph's, but, like the sailor's wife 
at Wapping, she was "fat and forty," but not fair. 
She was rather above the medium height, with a well 
developed physique, and a decidedly gipsy counte- 
nance. Her hair was drawn back very unbecomingly 
behind her ears, displaying high cheek bones, and a 
complexion too ruddy to be beautiful. If hers was a 
" Spanish beauty," it did not by any means please our 
Anglo-Saxon fancy; and if she was an artist of much 



i66 Havana. 

merit, we Americanos were too obtuse, or unskilled in 
" the divine art," to discover it. 

The private boxes in this theatre are inclosed by 
light ornamental lattice-work, and it is customary for 
the audience, during the intermission, to wander 
through the cool passage-ways outside of the boxes, 
and to stojD and gaze on the fair occupants within 
ci volonte. Instead of being annoyed or displeased at 
this seemingly impertinent curiosity, the ladies are 
said to be rather gratified than otherwise at such 
attentions from strangers, which they construe into 
evidences of admiration. 

I was not a little surprised to see, in one of the 
finest private boxes in the theatre, my landlady of the 
Revere. She was elegantly dressed, ornate with 
jewels, and attended by her cavalier, a gentleman I 
had frequently seen at the hotel, though ignorant of 
his name or occupation. I subsequently learned that 
it was Madame's ambition to occupy one of the 
most expensive and conspicuous boxes at the Tacon, 
and to excel in the splendor of her apparel her more 
opulent and aristocratic neighbors. Having sufii- 
ciently gratified our curiosity, we left the theatre 



Bal Masque. 167 

before the performances were over. As I passed 
through the doorway, I unintentionally jostled a sol- 
dier on duty, who looked daggers at me in Spanish ; 
but being in a hurry, I did not wait for an interpreta- 
tion, presuming that it would not be very flattering 
to my vanity, or particularly euphonious to "ears 
polite." 

At a cafe, near by, where we discussed, over our 
chocolate and cigars, the evening's entertainment, we 
met a resident American acquaintance, who proposed 
taking us to a Bal Masque not far distant. We gladly 
accepted his invitation, as none of our party had ever 
seen a Cuban mascardda — that class of amusements 
having been discontinued during Lent. Under the 
guidance of our friend, who was familiar with the 
Spanish language and the " institutions" of this city, 
we repaired to the Plaza de Mascaras, or place of 
masts. Having procured our tickets at the door, we 
were admitted into a large but dimly-lighted room on 
the second floor, where about a hundred persons of 
both sexes were assembled. Many of the men had 
cigars in their mouths, and some smoked while danc- 
ino^. A few of the other sex held small cio^arettes 



i68 Havana. 

between their fingers, wliicli they would occasionally 
place to their lips and puff out minute volumes of fra- 
grant smoke. At one end of the room, on an elevated 
platform, were the musicians, with three or four 
stringed instruments, a horn, and a bass drum. The 
dancing had not commenced when we arrived, so that 
we had an opportunity to inspect the audience in 
quiesco. Most of the women were dressed, or rather 
half dressed (for their necks and shoulders were 
shockingly nude) in plain-colored barege or tarlatan, 
with a light mantle, of some dark material, to throw 
over them at pleasure. Some had their faces entirely 
concealed ; but the youngest and evidently best-look- 
ing wore small eilk vizors or demi-masks, hiding just 
enough of the face to give piquancy to the rest, and 
to create in the spectator a desire to see more. Those 
wearing dominoes, or fully masked, were supposed to 
be females of doubtful personal attractions, or whose 
position in society induced them to preserve a strict 
incognito; for it would be damaging to the reputation 
of any lady of respectability to be seen in such a place. 
Still, it is not probable that many go there who have 
any character or reputation to lose. A tolerably gen- 



Opening of the Ball. 169 

tcel appearance, and money enough to buy a ticket, are 
all that is necessary to obtain admission ; consequently, 
men of all conditions in life, from the aristocratic rout 
to the humble mechanic and cigar-vender, patronize 
and participate in these midnight entertainments. 

Soon after eleven o'clock the band began to tune 
their instruments, which was the signal for opening 
the ball. All was excitement among the Habaneros, 
who rushed here and there in pursuit of their partners, 
and as soon as possible secured a place on the floor. 
When all the available space was occupied, the music 
struck up, and the multitude rushed into the whirling 
vortex of the waltz with an abandon characteristic of a 
people who do nothing with moderation — not even the 
conducting of their religious worship and holy-day ob- 
servances. The floor shook with the accumulated 
weight and motion of the numerous dancers, as they 
moved around the room, swaying to and fro in each 
other's embrace withakind of delirious excitement, as if 
their senses were intoxicated with passion and delight ; 

" and when 

Music arose with its vokiptuous swell 

Soft eyes look'd love to eyes that spoke again." 



1 yo Havana. 

During a pause in tlie dancing, we mingled with 
the crowd, being desirous, during our brief stay here, 
to see as much as possible of this peculiar phase of 
Cuban life. It was evident that our party was creat- 
ing quite a sensation among the audience, as there 
were several fine-looking officers in their showy uni- 
forms, which usually attract the eyes of the ladies, 
at home and abroad. They were frowned upon by 
the jealous seiiors, but received many a sidelong 
glance and significant look from the fair senoritas, 
who, under pretence of arranging a stray lock of hair, 
or some similar device, would occasionally remove 
their masks sufficiently for us to see their faces. 
Several times during the evening, the Cuban ladies 
expressed to our Spanish-American acquaintance a 
desire to waltz with the "elegantes Americanos;" 
which honor was respectfully declined. 

As it waxed far into the cigar-scented night, the 
mirth became more hilarious, and the dust from the 
sanded floor, with the smoke from innumerable 
cigars, imparted a sort of nebulous tinge to the atmo- 
sphere. It was almost a saturnalia ; and the view 
from the background, through the dim perspective, 



Saturnalia. 1 7 1 

was strangely suggestive of those gloomy mytholo- 
gical regions so graphically described by the old Latin 
poets. About half-past twelve we took our departure, 
having sufficiently gratified our curiosity, and added 
a few more items to our repertory of Cuban usages 
and customs. I was glad to get back to my compara- 
tively quiet room at the Revere, being full to satiety 
of dust and tobacco-smoke, and weary of looking at 
beautiful human forms without human faces, and 
listening to 

" the lascivious tinklino-s 



Of lulling instruments, the softening voices 

Of women, and of iDeings less than women." 
******** 



LETTER XII. 

Havana, April, 1856, 
This is my last niglit in Havana. To-morrow 
morning, Providence permitting, I shall bid adieu to 
this gem of the southern seas, beautiful Cuba. 
Her cane-covered fields ; her vine-clad hills ; her aro- 
matic groves; her luscious fruits, I leave without 
regret ; they are to me no longer " a feeling and a 
love." I have become weary with star-gazing and 
sight-seeing, surfeited with priests and pageantry, 
and disgusted with Spanish despotism and the odious 
aroma of garlic and cigar-smoke, which everywhere 
pervades the atmosphere of human habitations. I 
sigli once more for Columbia's happy land, with her 
free institutions and republican form of government, 
where liberty of speech and freedom of action are 
allowed ; and I sincerely hope, if ever again I visit 



Religious Intolerance. 173 

this beautiful but ill-governed island, that some other 
flag more suggestive of freedom will wave from her 
hill-tops and towers. 

Eeligious intolerance is a distinctive characteristic 
of this government. They are even less liberal here 
than in many parts of the mother country. Protes- 
tant worship is permitted in Madrid, but not here ; 
neither are its doctrines — which are antagonistic to 
despotism — allowed to be disseminated on this island. 
The British and American consuls at Havana have 
applied for permission to hold religious worship in 
their houses on the Sabbath, without avail ; and were 
it not for occasional services on foreign vessels in the 
harbor, visitors would have no opportunity to hear 
Protestant preaching. 

I attended worship a few Sabbaths ago on board of 
a British man-of-war called the Powerful, which was 
anchored in the bay about a mile from the landing, 
and beyond the jurisdiction of popery. The com- 
mander, with true English politeness, sent his private 
barge for our party, and we were rowed to the vessel 
by six "jolly tars" dressed in their Sunday suits of 
immaculate blue and white. The " Powerful" is an 



1 74 Havana. 

eighty-four gun ship, with a complement of seven 
hundred and fifty men, including officers, marines, 
and sailors ; all of whom, except those on duty, 
attended service, and were as quiet and orderly as any 
congregation I ever saw. The music was solemn, 
grand, and peculiarly impressive. A fine marine 
band was a substitute for an organ ; while the clear 
tenor and rich soprano voices of the young boys of 
the naval school, harmonizing with the deep bass and 
diapason tones of those more advanced in years, com- 
bined to make a full and effective choir. 

I was introduced by one of our party, an Episcopal 
clergyman of Boston, to the officiating chaplain, who 
very politely accompanied us about the ship, visiting the 
various apartments of this "Leviathan of the deep," 
which was almost a Sabbath-day's journey. We found 
ourselves very much fatigued from going down and 
up so many flights of stairs, and very gladly accepted 
our clerical friend's invitation to repair to his study 
and partake of refreshments, which we found already 
prepared. The time passed so pleasantly, that it was 
quite late in the day when we took our departure. . 

The next Sabbath I attended divine service on 



1 



Protestant Services. 175 

board of the United States flag-ship Potomac, which 
is now here awaiting sailing orders from our govern- 
ment. The Kev. E. H. Eenouf, from Boston, preached 
on the occasion, and gave us a plain, practical, or- 
thodox sermon, without any affectation, or labored 
attempt at rhetorical display. He preached love to 
God and good- will to all men, dwelling especially on 
that greatest of all rarities, " Christian charity ;" and 
his whole discourse was replete with such pure, unsel- 
fish, evangelical sentiments, as could not fail to meet 
the approval of all denominations. The services 
were similar to those on board of the British man-of- 
war, except that prayers were offered for the President 
of the United States, instead of her most gracious 
Majesty, Queen Victoria. 

There are quite a number of American vessels now 
in this harbor, and the stars and stripes of our 
glorious republic float triumphantly in the breeze, 
and the American Eagle is emblazoned on the uni- 
forms of scores whom I meet every day, imparting, as 
it were, a kind of energy and vitalit}'- to this land, 
scorched and dried up by the withering sirocco of 
Spanish misrule and papal despotism. ****** 



176 Havana. 

The next day, after the closing of Lent, a bull- fight 
was announced to take place in Havana in honor 
of the return of his Excellency General Concha, who 
had heen absent from the city about a month. I 
resolved to attend, as it might be the only oppor- 
tunity I would ever have to witness one of these 
exhibitions. But I will here say in extenuation — if 
any excuse or apology is necessary — that it was the 
most disgustingly brutal sight that I ever beheld, and 
nothing could ever induce me to witness a repetition. 

The Plaza de Toros is situated nearly a mile beyond 
the walls of the city. Our party consisted of Dr. C. 
and young Mr. L. from the States, who were stopping 
at the Eevere, and five or six of the officers belonging 
to the Potomac. We took volantes at the hotel, and 
soon found ourselves at the entrance to the grounds 
of the Plaza, in the midst of a motley crowd of 
Spaniards and natives, who were rushing towards the 
ticket-office shouting " Boleta," and holding in their 
extended hands the coin requisite for admission. 
Having procured our tickets in advance, we lost no 
time in elbowing our way to the door, where we 
found the rest of our party, who had preceded us. 



Plaza de Toros. 177 

Passing between a file of Spanish soldiers, we soon 
found ourselves within an extensive amphitheatre, 
around which were rows of covered seats rising one 
above the other, and capable of holding several thou- 
sand spectators. The arena for the exhibition was 
an open space of nearly half an acre ; around the 
outside at regular intervals, were a number of strong 
wooden barriers, formed by heavy posts driven into 
the ground, behind which the combatants could take 
refuge when pursued by the infuriated bulls. The 
audience was large, comprising all grades, sexes, and 
colors — from the captain-general and his family, in 
their ornamented box, to the swarthy mule-driver 
from the mountains, who occupied with his dame or 
sweetheart a stcmdee jnst outside the barriers. There 
were beautiful ladies richly attired and languishing 
beneath glittering diamonds and other personal deco- 
rations, and lovely children of the nobility, so very 
young as to be carried in the arms of their sable 
attendants. 

The signal flag was hoisted, a trumpet blast heard, 
and the vast multitude were wild with excitement, 
as the various actors in the drama (or rather tragedy) 



1 jS Havana. 

entered the arena in a procession. First came the 
master of ceremonies, dressed in ancient Spanish 
costume, followed by six or eight picadors — villanous 
looking fellows, mounted on miserable old hack-horses 
blindfolded, and so very poor that it was apparently 
with considerable difficulty that they supported their 
riders. These picadors carried long spears in their 
hands, and were attired in fanciful livery bedizened 
with tarnished lace and faded ribbons. Their legs 
were encased in leather breeches stuffed with some 
impenetrable material to protect them from the horns 
of the bulls, giving them the clumsy look of a jack- 
booted postillion. These men are a necessary appen- 
dage to this species of amusement — a kind of " forlorn 
hope," being compelled to bear the brunt and danger 
of the contest. Next in order were the chidos 
or combatants on foot, fantastically dressed and 
carrying in their hands barbed arrows, javelins, and 
other instruments of torture, to be used on the occa- 
sion. After these, came the matadors or killers, with 
their long slender basket-hilted swords, which they 
use to terminate the existence of the unfortunate 
bulls when they can no longer afford amusement to 



A Bull-fight. 179 

the spectators. These matadors are sometimes men 
of considerable celebrity in their profession, and arc 
by far the most skilful of the different combatants. 
They are often regularly educated to the profession 
in their youth, and some of them are graduates of the 
old Castilian schools of Tauromachy. Last in the 
procession, was a mule-team, gaily caparisoned, and 
animated by the sound of tinkling bells around their 
necks, which was employed to drag the slaughtered 
animals from the arena. The procession passed 
around the ring to salute the captain-general, and the 
other dignitaries present, and to receive the congratu- 
lations of the expectant multitude ; and then, all but 
the dados and two or three of the picadors left the 
enclosure. ♦ 

The trumpet again sounded, the gates were thrown 
open, and a large native bull rushed into the amphi- 
theatre, amid the shouts of the entliusiastic spectators, 
^vho waved their hats, handkerchiefs, and scarf?:, in a 
perfect frenzy of excitement and exultation. The 
noble animal appeared, at first, bewildered, and appa- 
rently undecided how to act. He turned his head in 
every direction, and scanned his foes, who were drawn 



i8o Havana. 

up in battle array at the further side of the ring. Soon 
he began to snuff the air, lash his sides with his tail, 
and tear up the ground with his hoofs. At length, 
with a sudden bound, he rushed furiously against the 
nearest picador^ who sat on his trembling Eozinante 
with his lance in his hand, poised and ready to strike. 
The sharp weapon pierced the bull's neck, and kept 
him for a moment at bay. The withdrawal of the 
lance was followed by a stream of blood which 
deluged the ground. The bull then retreated to the 
opposite side of the ring, turned his face towards his 
enemies, and appeared as if he were disposed to act on 
the defensive. Several toreros now approached him 
from different directions; the one in front engaged his 
attention by flashing in his face a red scarf or shawl, 
while the others pierced his sides with small javelins, 
which were left to rankle in the flesh. This guerilla 
mode of warfare so exasperated the animal, that he 
turned on his tormentors, who hastily retreated behind 
the barriers. He then made for the nearest picador^ 
and thrusting his sharp horns into the horse's belly, 
lifted from the ground both horse and rider, and 
turned them completely over — the luckless picador 



The Coup de Grace. 181 

underneath. The enraged bull was with difficulty 
drawn off, and the wounded man dragged from under 
the horse, which lay struggling in the agonies of death. 
The bull again retreated ; the purple gore streamed 
from gaping wounds, and his body was covered all 
over with sweat and foam. Worn down by the strug- 
gle, weary and faint from loss of blood, he soon began 
to writhe and tremble from weakness. 

Another blast from the trumpet brought into the in- 
closure a matador to try his '"prentice hand" at killing, 
for the bull was now to be despatched. But the fellow 
proved to be a mere novice, and made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to inflict a mortal wound, which eli- 
cited a storm of groans and hisses from the angry 
spectators, who would not cease until he retired from 
the arena. Soon a favorite maiaclor was announced, 
who sprang into the ring and gracefully bowed amid 
the cheers and loud vivas of the excited multitude. 
He was slightly yet symmetrically formed, and as agile 
and graceful in his movements as a French dancing- 
master. He wore a cap of black velvet, with a sable 
plume, and a close-fitting jacket, which was profusely 
ornamented with gilt and embroidery, while a crimson 



i82 Havana. 

scarf girded his almost feminine waist. As soon as the 
acclamations of the audience ceased, the matador ap- 
proached the bull, which had apparently regained a 
portion of his former vigor, notwithstanding his recent 
depletion, and shaking a scarf in his face, so excited 
the rage of the animal that he made a plunge at the in- 
trepid Spaniard, who received him on the point of his 
sword, and buried it to the hilt between his shoulders. 
The bull gave one convulsive spring, carrying the 
sword in his body, and almost instantly expired. The 
whole audience arose simultaneously, and amid the 
plaudits and congratulations of the men, and a shower 
of bouquets from the ladies, the delighted matador, 
with his hand on his heart, bowed himself out of the 
inclosure. Then the four-mule team, which was so 
conspicuous in the opening procession, reappeared, 
and the dead carcasses of the horse and bull were 
dragged from the arena amid the music of the band 
and the shouts of the jubilant multitude. 

During our stay, several other bulls were brought 
in and attacked in a similar manner, with but slight 
variation in the details; and a horse was killed or 
fatally wounded at every encounter. Some of the 



Brutal Torture. 183 

bulls were more fierce than the one I liave just de- 
scribed ; others were not so valiant, but appeared to 
be frightened at the discordant noise of the populace, 
and would not come to the attack. In that case, a 
chulo approached, and shook his red scarf in the face 
of the bull to inspire him, if possible, with pugnacious 
sentiments. Should this fail to produce the desired 
effect, they would launch at him numerous projectiles 
— in shape like a javelin — to the barbed point of which 
is attached a detonating preparation, which explodes 
the moment it penetrates the flesh of the animal, caus- 
ing him to plunge, and writhe, and bellow in agony. 
Some would tear frantically around the arena, throw 
themselves on the ground, and try in every possible 
way to detach these instruments of torture, which 
were burning and rankling in their flesh ; "the smoke 
of their torment" filling the air, and adding to the 
horror of the scene. Any extraordinary manifesta- 
tion of suffering on the part of the poor persecuted 
animal was provocative of loud laughter and bois- 
terous merriment from the spectators, many of whom 
seemed reall}'- to delight in its sufferings. 

Becomino; diss-usted with the brutal and senseless 



1 84 Havana. 

exhibition, we left some time before it was concluded. 
I was desirous of retiring during the first intermission ; 
but my friends prevailed on me to remain a little 
longer, hoping that time would develop some new 
and more attractive feature in the exhibition. It is 
strange that any person possessing the ordinary feel- 
ings of humanity can tolerate such acts of cruelty ; 
and that females of apparent delicacy and refinement 
can witness and take pleasure in such brutal specta- 
cles, is, to me, perfectly unaccountable. It is certainly 
an indication that the finer and better feelings of their 
natures are blunted, and their sensibilities impaired, if 
their morals are not corrupted. 

A few evenings since, I attended a theatrical exhi- 
bition on board of the Potomac, got up by the offi- 
cers and crew for their own amusement. There were 
thirty or forty visitors present, who, with the crew, 
made quite a large audience. It was a very creditable 
and highly interesting amateur performance, although 
I believe that two or three of the actors on this occa- 
sion had once been connected with the stage. The 
first play on the programme was the historical drama 
of " Charles XII." This was followed by an original 



A Boat Row at Midnight. 185 

Etliiopian extravaganza, in wliicli the " excruciating 
opera" and the " high-falutin' ballet" were successfully- 
burlesqued. During the intermission, a few of us 
were invited into the officers' cabin to partake of 
liquid refreshments and cigars. The evening's enter- 
tainment ended with an amusing farce, written by one 
of the crew, in which were introduced some hits of a 
local nature that were highly enjoyed by the audience. 

It was past the "noon of night" before we all 
reached the shore, having to be rowed in small boats 
for nearly a mile. I enjoyed the trip exceedingly, as 
the evening was serene and beautiful, the air soft and 
balmy, and the full-orbed silver moon was high in the 
heavens, with her bright face mirrored in the deep 
waters of the quiet bay over which we were noise- 
lessly gliding. The phosphorescent light emitted by 
the water, as our boat ruffled its placid surface, with 
flakes of silver dropping from the oars, and the trail- 
ing wake of silvery effulgence we left behind, was to 
me a novel and exceedingly beautiful sight, * * * 

In closing my crude and desultory remarks con- 
cerning this land "ordained of Heaven the fairest 

spot on earth," I cannot do better than express the 

8* 



1 86 Havana. 

sentiments of a writer of some note, who has recently 
visited this country and given his impressions to the 
public* He says: — 

" If it were possible to contemplate only the beau- 
ties that nature has so prodigally lavished on this 
Eden of the Gulf, shutting out all that man has done 
and is still doing to mar the blessings of Heaven, then 
a residence in Cuba would present a succession of un- 
alloyed pleasures equal to a poet's dream. But it is 
impossible, even if it would be desirable, to exclude 
the dark side of the picture. The American traveller, 
keenly alive to the social and political aspects of life, 
appreciates in full force the evils that challenge his 
observation at every step, and in every view which he 
may take. If he contrasts the natural scenery with 
the familiar pictures of home, he cannot help also con- 
trasting the political condition of the people with that 
of his own country. The existence, almost under the 
shadow of the flag of the freest institutions the earth 
ever knew, of a government as purely despotic as that 
of the autocrat of the Russias, is a monstrous fact that 

* "History of Cuba, by M. M. Ballou;" to wliich I am indebted 
for mucli valuable statistical information relative to that countrv. 



Striking Contrast. 187 

startles the most indifferent observer. It must be seen 
to be realized. 

" To go hence to Cuba, is not merely passing over 
a few degrees of latitude in a few days' sail, — it is a 
step from the nineteenth century back into the dark 
ages. In the clime of sun and endless summer, we 
are in the land of starless political darkness. Lying 
under the lee of a land where every man is a sove- 
reign, is a realm where the lives, liberties, and for- 
tunes of all arc held at the tenure of the will of a 
single individual, and whence not a single murmur of 
complaint can reach the ear of the nominal ruler more 
than a thousand leagues away in another hemisphere. 
In close proximity to a country where the taxes, self- 
imposed, are so light as to be almost unfelt, is one 
where each free family pays nearly four hundred dol- 
lars per annum for the support of a bigoted tyranny, 
yielding in the aggregate an annual revenue of twen- 
ty-five millions of dollars, for which they receive no 
equivalent, no representation, no utterance — for pen 
and tongue are alike proscribed — no honor, no ofl&ce, 
no emolument ; where their industry is crippled, their 
intercourse with other nations hampered in every way, 



i88 Havana. 

their bread literally snatched from their lips, the free- 
dom of education denied, and every generous, liberal 
aspiration of the human soul stifled in its birth. Such 
are the contrasts, broad and striking, and such the 
reflections forced upon the mind of the citizen of the 
United States in Cuba." * * * 



LETTEK XIII. 

Key West, Fla., April, 1856. 
My last yam was spun about two weeks since in 
Havana, just before my departure for the island-city, 
where I am now sojourning. I was " taken in " by 

our friends the H s immediately on my arrival, 

and assigned a large airy room in their pleasant family 
mansion, where I am now fairly domesticated, and in 
the enjoyment of many comforts to which I have long 
been a stranger; Kind friends, pleasant weather, and 
a delightful climate, would have rendered my sojourn 
here particularly agreeable, had I not experienced a 
return of my old malady, inflammation of the sto- 
mach. My sufferings were intense, both day and 
night, and I became so weak from pain and loss of 
sleep that I could scarcely walk to the beach, a few 
rods distant. My nervous system was in such a state, 



igo Key West. 

that I could not bear the least noise or excitement. 
A loud voice, the crying of a child, the barking of a 
dog, and even the sound of the surging sea — which 
usually is music to my ear — now caused me sensa- 
tions approaching, at times, almost to agony. I am 
more than ever convinced that those who suffer from 
a derangement of the nervous system do not usually 
receive the sympathy they deserve ; for it is a disease, 
in my opinion, worse than all the ills to which flesh 
is heir. But, thank Heaven, I am now better, or I 
could not write, much less indite, this letter. * * * 
Key West, formerly called by the Spaniards Cayo 
Hueso, or Bone Key, is the most important of a chain 
of small islands, or keys as they are termed, lying on 
the southern coast of Florida. These islands are very 
numerous, and vary in extent from the fractional part 
of an acre to several miles. They are of coral forma- 
tion — the work of small insects, who, however, cease 
their labors as soon as they come to the surface of the 
water. The entire growth above the water is depen- 
dent on other causes. A bunch of floating sea-weed, 
or a loose spar from some dismantled vessel, may rest 
upon this coral foundation. This is seized upon by 



Coral Insects. 191 

the industrious insects, who weave on the under side 
a net-work of coral, thus securing it permanently to 
the rock below. The slight elevation becomes gra- 
dually covered with sand or earth, forming the first 
rudiments of a soil. Some weary sea-bird, perhaps 
seeking a momentary resting-place, drops on the soil 
a seed, which takes root, blossoms, and bears fruit. 
Years after, other birds may rest in the branches of 
this isolated tree or shrub, and perchance scatter the 
seeds of other and different plants, which spring up, 
produce fruit, and are ' in their turn disseminated. 
The coral insects keep at work, enlarging the founda- 
tion to correspond with the increase of vegetation, 
until acres and perhaps miles of territory are formed 
in the midst of the ocean. Some of these islands 
increase in size each year, while others gradually 
diminish. This is said to be caused by the tidal cur- 
rents, which pass through these intricate channels, 
in their tortuous course washing away portions of one 
island and transferring the loosened soil to another. 

Key Largo lies near the main land, and is the 
largest of these numerous islands, being about twenty- 
five miles long, and from one to five miles wide. 



192 Key West. 

Key West, although the third or fourth in size, is the 
only one of commercial importance. It has been de- 
signated as " the Key of the Gulf," and is the most 
southerly extremity of the United States. It is sixty 
miles south-west from Cape Sable, and ninety miles 
north of Havana, and is the only safe anchorage for 
vessels between those places. The island itself is four 
miles long and one mile wide, and its highest eleva- 
tion is less than twenty feet above the level of the 
ocean. The harbor is capacious, and is defended by 
Fort Taylor, a large and costly fortification, now in 
process of erection. Key West has also a military 
and naval hospital, and a number of barracks for sol- 
diers, and is destined to be a place of considerable 
importance. The steamer Isabel, which carries the 
mail between Charleston and Havana, touches here 
once a week, and is about the only means of commu- 
nication with the main land. Arrangements are now 
being made, I learn, to have the California steamers 
coal here, and take in supplies on their return voyage. 
The town is situated on the west end of the island, 
and is dignified by the title of city, although having 
less than three thousand inhabitants. It is, however, 



A Paradise for Wreckers. 193 

the most populous place in Florida Being a sea-port 
town, the society is unavoidably miscellaneous. The 
permanent residents arc principally Americans, Eng- 
lish, Spaniards, and Bahamians, with a large infusion 
•of slaves and free blacks. These Bahamians, known 
here by the peculiar sobriquet of "conchs," are quite 
numerous, amounting to at least one-fifth of the entire 
population. They have a settlement by themselves 
in the outskirts of the city, and subsist mainly by 
fishing, gathering sponges, and giving assistance to 
wrecked vessels. Large quantities of sponges are 
annually collected by these amphibious bipeds, who 
-seem to be as much at home in the water as out of it. 
The southern coast of Florida is very much feared 
by navigators, on account of its numerous shoals and 
reefs, its labyrinthine channels, and the treacherous 
under current of the Gulf-stream in the vicinity. It 
is said that about fifty vessels are annually wrecked 
on this coast, and the inhabitants of Key West derive 
a large revenue from this source. There are a great 
number of wrecking m-erchants in this city, most oJ 
whom have acquired fortunes in the business. I have 
always looked upon wrecking as a nefarious occupa- 



194 ^^y West. 

tion, a kind of quasi piracy ; but I am assured by 
reliable citizens here, that it is generally conducted 
upon equitable rules, for the mutual benefit of all 
parties interested, and that many lives and much 
valuable property are saved every year by the exer- 
tions of these wreckers. A large number of vessels, 
and quite an army of seamen, are now engaged in the 
business, and nearly all of the inhabitants on this 
island are, directly or indirectly, interested in it. 

On the east end of the island are a number of salt- 
water ponds, where salt is made by solar evaporation. 
These works have been destroyed several times by 
gales, and the manufacture of salt for a while sus- 
pended. They are now in successful operation, and 
yield about two hundred thousand bushels annually. 
The present owner, Mr. C. W. Dennis, came here 
from Alabama, a few years ago, for his health. The 
salt air and equable climate proved so beneficial to 
him, that he has continued to reside here ever since. 
Mr. Dennis is a gentleman of wealth, with a decided 
taste for literary and scientific pursuits, to which he 
devotes a large portion of his time. I am indebted 
to him for much valuable information relative to the 



The Climate of Key West. 195 

commerce and agricultural capabilities of this island, 
and for many interesting facts concerning the nume- 
rous keys and islands in this vicinity. 

The climate of Key West is delightful. The island 
is constantly visited by invigorating sea-breezes, and 
is never so intensely hot as some parts of Cuba. The 
mean temperature is ^6° ; the mercury seldom rises 
above 85°, and has never been known to fall below 
43° since the island has been inhabited. This would 
be a paradise for invalids, with its perpetual summer, 
its balmy, health-giving atmosphere, and its ever- 
verdant foliage, were there a greater variety of land 
scenery, more pleasant drives, and better hotel accom- 
modations. But it is sadly deficient in all of these 
hygeian requisites. The greater part of the island is 
uncultivated, being covered with dwarfish trees and 
scraggy underbrush. The soil, in many places, is 
overspread to the depth of several inches with loose 
beach sand, carried there by the heavy gales which 
occasionally sweep over the island. After the novelty 
of the place has worn off, and the invalid visitor has 
become weary of gazing on the broad and monotonous 
ocean which surrounds him on every side, he will, 



J 96 Key West. 

I imagine, experience a feeling of loneliness — an 
oppressive sensation, as if he were in too contracted 
and confined a place ; and this could not be otherwise 
than unfavorable to his restoration to health. Were 
it not for these few drawbacks, Key West would be 
one of the most desirable places for a winter residence 
on this continent. 

The soil is thin, and apparently almost sterile, yet 
the heat of the climate and the soft tropical air make 
every kind of vegetation flourish. It is particularly 
adapted to fruit. Many kinds, such as oranges, cocoa- 
nuts, tamarinds, bananas, olives, dates, and others 
peculiar to the tropics, grow here almost sponta- 
neously, and might be cultivated with 23rofit, were it 
not for the great cost of inclosing and preparing the 
land. I was shown several varieties of plants intro- 
duced here from Mexico by the late Dr. Henry Per- 
rine, more than twenty years ago, which had become 
thoroughly domesticated. One variety of the agave 
family, named by Dr. Perrine^4^are5wa/a?in, has been 
very widely disseminated here, and is now growing 
freely on the island. This valuable plant produces 
what is known to the commercial world as Sisal hemp. 



Dr. Henry Perrine. 197 

It is stronger and more durable than the celebrated 
Manilla hemp, a single fibre having been known to 
sustain a weight of six pounds, and is exceedingly 
valuable for cordage and other purposes. If a suit- 
able machine could be invented for removing the pulp 
and cleansing the fibre, it would soon become an im- 
portant and profitable article of commerce. The plant 
will flourish on poor thin soil. For that reason, if no 
other, it is especially adapted to many parts of south- 
ern Florida, and the islands bordering on the gulf. 

During my stay at Key West, I had the pleasure 
of conversing with several persons who had been 
intimately acquainted with Dr. Perrine, and they 
regarded the enterprise in which he was engaged at 
the time of his death" of incalculable importance to 

* On tlio 7tli day of August, 1840, an attack was mado on Indian 
Key, a small island on the southern coast of Florida, by a band of 
Seminole Indians, and several of the inhabitants massacred. " Among 
those who fell victims to Indian rapacity and ferocity was Dr. Henry 
Perrine, a gentleman of distinguished talents and education, who had 
temporarily settled himself with his family at Indian Key for the 
purpose of introducing the culture of the tea-plant and other exotics 
into the territory of Florida. Dr. Perrine had intended to settle on a 
township of land situated near Cape Florida: but in consequence of 



198 Key West. 

this countr}'. The object of the association of which 
Dr. Perrine was the originator, was " to encourage the 
introduction and promote the cultivation of tropical 
plants in the United States." It was the intention of 
the parties to introduce such valuable exotics as 
would grow on comparatively sterile soil, and to make 
available a large part of southern Florida, now of no 
real value to our government, thus increasing the 
national wealth and the prosperity of our common 
country. 

Dr. Perrine was an able and enthusiastic botanist, 
and during the ten or twelve years that he was 
American Consul at Campeachy and Tobasco, he 
devoted himself to the domestication of tropical 

the Seminole war, which was then raging, lie was not allowed to carry 
his designs into execution. A townsliip of land was granted to him 
in the year 1838 by Congress, with a view to the encouragement of 
his favorite enterprise. While waiting patiently for the close of the 
war, at Indian Key, a place of supposed perfect security, a band of 
savages landed on tlio island, desolated it, and assassinated a portion 
of the inhabitants: and among those who fell was Dr. Perrine." — 
From the National Intelligencer. 

The particulars of this massacre and of the escape of Dr. Perrine's 
family will be giveu at the close of this chapter. 



Domestication of Tropical Plants. 199 

plants in the United States, by patient collections and 
persevering transmissions of valuable seeds and plants, 
and by procuring the necessary information for their 
culture. Among the plants he introduced (many of 
which would without doubt have been successfully 
cultivated, had he lived) were several varieties of the 
palm, the agave, the tea-plant, the coffee-shrub, the 
rich dyes and precious woods of Mexico, the various 
spices of the Indies, and the delicious fruits of Tropi- 
cal America. There are now on exhibition at the 
Patent Office in Washington samples of a nankeen- 
colored cotton, and of a drab vegetable silk, sent there 
by Dr. P., which have excited considerable interest 
among botanists, and persons engaged in the manu- 
facture of those commodities. 

When on my way to Cuba, I met with a gentleman 
engaged in the government coast survey, who had 
recently visited Matacumba and other small islands 
in the immediate vicinity of Indian Key, and I 
learned from him that the island of Matacumba was 
covered with trees and shrubs, different from any to 
be found on the main land, or on any of the islands 
near by. They were, in all probability, introduced 



200 Key West. 

there by Dr. Perrine, who, during his residence at 
Indian Key, used this island as a nursery for the 
cultivation and propagation of exotic trees and plants. 

NARRATIVE OF THE MASSACRE AT INDIAN KEY. 

The circumstances attending the death of Dr. Per- 
rine, as related by members of his family, are as fol- 
lows : — In the year 1838, Congress granted to him a 
township of land in southern Florida for the purpose 
of introducing and acclimating valuable tropical 
plants. During the winter of that 3"ear, Dr. P., 
with his family, consisting of his wife, two daughters, 
and a son, took up his residence at Indian Ke}^, a 
small island lying about twenty miles south from 
Cape Sable, to await the termination of the Seminole 
■war, before removing to the main land. While there, 
the Doctor occupied himself in preparing a nursery 
of exotic plants on the uninhabited island of Mata- 
cumba near by, intending, as soon as the war was 
over, to remove them to his township on the main 
land. The few families residing at Indian Key had 
no apprehension of an attack from the Indians, who, 
it was presumed, would not venture so far away from 



Massacre at Indian Key. 201 

their secure retreat among the everglades. Their, 
supposed security was rendered more certain, from-' 
the fact, evidently known to the Indians, that a nuiii- ■ 
ber of United States soldiers were stationed at Tea ■ 
Table Key, less than two miles distant. 

Indian Key, at this time, contained a dozen or 
more dwellings, two or three warehouses, and one' 
store, with an area of about twelve acres. The h<!>iiS6'' 
occupied by Dr. Perrine was the largest on '^the" 
island. It was three stories high, including the attic, 
with a piazza at one end, and cupola on the top ; and 
was built so close to the sea, that during high tide- 
three sides of the house were surrounded by water."" 
Fronting the piazza, and extending into the ocean, 
was a short wharf or pier, used for unloading wood* 
and fiimily supplies ; between it and the house was a 
narrow covered passage, walled up on each side. Thel: 
wharf itself was constructed of posts driven into the' 
ground and covered over with timber and plank.- 
The space under the wharf was used as a pen for*' 
turtles, and known as " a turtle crawl." Itcommuni-' 
cated with the cellar b}^ the narrow passage before 
mentioned, at the outer end of which was a row of 



202 Key West. 

palmetto posts driven into the soft marl, far enough 
apart to freely admit the tide, but not to allow the 
escape of the turtles. The cellar under the house 
being open to the influx of the sea, was used by the 
family as a place for bathing, the water being four or 
five feet deep during high-tide, but receding as the 
tide ebbed, so as to leave but a few inches on the 
bottom. The bathing-place was entered by a trap- 
door from the dressing-room above. 

This slight description of the island, with the loca- 
tion and arrangement of the house occupied by Dr. 
Perrine, will enable the reader the better to under- 
stand the events set forth in the following narrative. 

On the morning of the 7th of August, 18-iO, between 
two and three o'clock, the family of Dr. Perrine 
were aroused from their skimbers by the discharge of 
guns, crashing of glass, and the fearful yells of Indians, 
who had approached the island so stealthily as to escape 
observation. The Doctor sprang from his hammock, 
where he had been watching the sick-bed of his eldest 
daughter who bad been ill of a fever for several weeks, 
caught her up in his arms, and followed by his wife 
and other daughter in their night dresses, started 



Massacre at Indian Key. 203 

down stairs to seek a place of concealment. At this 
moment they discovered that the son, a lad of thirteen, 
was not with them ; they found him in his room in 
another part of the building, and hurriedly descended 
to the dressing-room at the foot of the stairs. Here 
the Doctor left his family and went to another room 
for his fire-arms, having in the house at the time one 
of Colt's revolving rifles, three of Allen's six-shooters, 
and one double-barrelled shot-gun. He had plenty of 
powder and balls, but to his dismay found that he 
was out of percussion caps, which rendered his fire- 
arms useless as a means of defence. Somewhat dis- 
couraged, but not without hope, the Doctor — finding 
the yard and piazza filled with Indians, and no possi- 
bility of escape in that direction — opened the trap- 
door leading to the bathing-room below, as the safest 
place of refuge, and told his family to descend and 
" he would go back and see what could be done." 
They did as he requested, and were soon immersed 
to the waist in water, and surrounded by darkness 
and gloom. They groped their way into the narrow 
passage leading to the " turtle crawl," where their 
further progress was intercepted by the palmetto posts 



204 Key West. 

before mentioned. Here they remained in darkness 
and suspense, awaiting the husband and father whom 
they were never to see again in this world. 

The Indians had by this time reached the rear of 
the house and were crowded upon the piazza, but a 
few feet above the heads of the affrighted family, fir- 
ing their guns into the windows, yelling, and battering 
away at the door. During a slight cessation of the 
noise, they heard Dr. Perrine from the upper piazza, 
calling to the Indians in Spanish, informing them that 
he was a physician. This was all they conld under- 
stand, as the Indians immediately gave a loud shout, 
and apparently left the premises. In a few moments 
Dr. Perrine came down stairs, closed the trap-door 
leading to the cellar, and drew over it a large chest 
of seeds to conceal it from observation. This noble, 
self-sacrificing act — the last he ever performed for his 
family — undoubtedly saved their lives. 

Dr. Perrine had many important papers and 
manuscripts, the fruits of years of toil and research, 
which were of incalculable value to him, and which 
he was desirous of saving. Knowing that the Indians 
were friendly to the Spaniards, and trusting to his 



Massacre at Indian Key. 205 

knowledge of the Spanish language, which he spoke 
like a native, and to their known desire to secure the 
services of a white physician, he was confident that 
he could prevail on them to spare his dwelling, and 
the lives of himself and family, and that he would 
ultimately be able to save many of his valuable papers. 
This idea is borne out by the subsequent occurrences 
of that fetal night. 

A short time after the Indians had left the house, 
the trembling listeners heard the rattling of a chain 
as it was dropped into a small boat which had been 
festened to the wharf, but a few yards from where 
they were concealed, and cautious footsteps in the 
water. They afterwards learned that Mr. Charles 
Howe, who now resides at Key West, then made his 
escape with all his family. Shortly after, they heard 
the Indians breaking into the different houses near 
by, and from their loud discordant yells it was evi- 
dent that they had obtained access to the store, and 
were now maddened by intoxication. Despair seized 
on the terrified inmates of this half submerged prison- 
house, as they heaixi the returning footsteps of the 
Indians, who now began a furious assault upon the 



2o6 Key West. 

dwelling, and with tlie aid of sticks of wood that 
were piled on the wharf, soon battered down the door 
and effected an entrance. For a time they seemed to 
be more intent on breaking windows, destroying 
furniture, and securing plunder, than searching for 
victims. At last a voice was heard to say in English 
" they're all hid" — " old man up-stairs." A rush was 
then made evidently in that direction, and in a few 
moments the sound of heavy blows was heard appa- 
rently upon a massive trap-door that led to the cupola, 
where it was supposed the Doctor had retreated for 
safety. Soon they heard a terrific crash as the door 
gave way, followed by a single rifle shot, and then 
the loud war-whoops and demoniac yells of the sav- 
ages indicated their success and the massacre of Dr. 
Perrine. For a long time afterwards the terror- 
stricken fugitives heard the Indians drao-orinor trunks 
and other articles of plunder over their heads, and 
loading them into boats. Once, as the turtles made a 
noise in the water, an Indian raised one of the planks 
and looked down, but fortunately not towards the 
end where the family were secreted. 

Anxiously the trembling inmates of this gloomy 



1 



Massacre at Indian Key. 207 

hiding-place awaited the approach of light, which they 
hoped would bring succor and relief, as they sup- 
posed these ruthless invaders would then leave the 
island. As the day began to dawn, they could see 
through the crevices of their place of retreat boats 
passing by loaded with spoils, and hear the cry of the 
marauders close at hand. Soon they heard the sound 
of desultory firing ; then came the booming of a can- 
non, which was followed by prolonged yells of defi- 
ance. Hope began to animate their breasts, and they 
waited with feverish anxiety other indications of the 
approach of succor. But the firing ceased, and the 
looked-for aid came not. It was afterwards ascer- 
tained that nearly all the soldiers stationed at Tea- 
Table Key had been sent away a few days before on 
a naval expedition, and those left behind were in the 
hospital, and not considered fit for active service. 
When it was known at the Key that the Indians had 
made an attack on this island, a few partly-disabled 
soldiers procured a small boat, in which they placed 
two four-pound swivels, and as soon as it was light 
started out for the purpose of trying to intercept the 
Indians and cut ofi" their retreat to the main land. In 



2o8 Key West. 

tlie hurry of their departure, they unfortunately took 
•■with them six-pound cartridges instead of four, and at 
vthe first discharge the overloaded guns recoiled so vio- 
dently that they went overboard, and the soldiers had 
■to retreat, to avoid being captured. The Indians fol- 
•lowed them for some distance, firing at them, and 
killing or severely wounding one of their number. 
- It soon became evident to Mrs. Perrine and her 
►children that the house was on fire, as smoke began 
ito make its way slowly into their place of conceal- 
ment. It was some time, however, before it proved 
troublesome, as the building was fired near the cupola, 
and had to burn downwards. But as its devouring 
progress was not stayed, it soon found its wa}^ to the 
lower floor, when the smoke became stifling, and so 
dense that they could scarcely see themselves, although 
clasped in each other's arms. The tide had now 
ebbed, leaving but a few inches of water over the bot- 
tom. To escape suffocation, they lay with their flices 
close to the water, splashed it around them to keep 
the air in motion, and breathed through the folds of 
their wet night-clothes. At length the timbers above 
their heads caught fire, and tongues of angry flame 



Massacre at Indian Key. 209 

darted out, and were choked back by wet marl in the 

hands of the terror-stricken captives, whose doom 

seemed now to be sealed. No escape was left for them 

towards the house, as the mouth of their retreat 

looked like a great oven or fiery furnace, and in front 

of them was a row of piles driven deep into the marl 

and spiked at the top. In a few moments the burning 

building fell into the cellar with a fearful crash. The 

boy screamed out in terror, as a horrible death by fire 

seemed inevitable. His mother and sister endeavored 

to stop his cries, fearing the Indians would hear him; 

but he declared " that he would rather be killed than 

burned to death," and broke away from them. In his 

frantic efforts to escape, he forced his way between 

two palmetto posts, one of which had been loosened 

at the top, and escaped into the turtle-pen, whence he 

made his way to the outside of the wharf. 

His mother and sisters remained for a short time in 

agonizing suspense, thinking that he would be killed 

or taken prisoner by the Indians, and their discovery 

would be certain. But hearing no noise, and knowing 

that they would be burned to death if they remained 

where they were, the mother dug down into the marl 

9* 



210 Key West. 

with her hands to the bottom of a post, and by an 
almost superhuman effort succeeded in displacing it 
sufficiently to admit the passage of herself and daugh- 
ters. As they went forward under the wharf, on 
which were several cords of wood on fire, the live 
coals fell on their bare heads and shoulders ; but they 
heeded them not, being so overjoyed at having 
escaped from the horrible death which but a few 
moments before seemed to be their doom. Joyfully 
they inhaled the pure air once more, and with grateful 
hearts thanked God for their deliverance. "With slow 
and cautious footsteps they made their way through 
the shallow water to the outside of the wharf, looking 
anxiously around for the son, of whose fate they were 
ignorant, and trying to discover some place of secu- 
rity where they could remain until rescued. 

Let us now for a moment follow the son after his 
escape from beneath the burning wharf. Seeing a 
fleet of canoes, nearly a mile distant, filled with 
Indians, and supposing that they had all left the 
island, he started in the direction of one of the build- 
ings not destroyed, hoping to find some person who 
would go to the relief of his mother and sisters. But 



Massacre at Indian Key. 211 

no human being was visible, and no sound beard, 
except the crackling of the flames of the nearly con- 
sumed dwelling he had so recently occupied, and of 
the burning wood on the wharf. lie passed in front 
of the store, the door of which was open, little dream- 
ing that at the moment several drunken Indians were 
within, collecting the few spoils not taken away by 
those who had left the island. Eetracing his steps, 
he approached the spot where his mother and sisters 
were incarcerated, in the expectation of never seeing 
them again, as the wharf above their late place of 
concealment was all on fire, and their escape at that 
time would have been impossible. As he cast his 
eyes despairingly in that direction, to his great sur- 
prise and joy he beheld them emerging from the 
turtle-pen. He ran to meet them, and as he passed 
the landing near the store, he discovered a boat partly 
loaded with goods, evidently belonging to the Indians 
then in the building. When he reached the family, 
his mother was supporting in her arms her invalid 
daughter, who, becoming faint from weakness and 
fatigue, had sunk down, and was begging her mother 
and sister to leave her and make their escape, as "she 



212 Key West. 

said she was dying and could go no further." But 
they succeeded in dragging her through the water to 
the boat, which they unloosed from its fastening, and 
with the aid of one oar and a pole contrived to push 
it out into the open sea. 

Their escape was truly providential ; for, had they 
been a few moments earlier or later in getting to the 
boat, they would, in all probability, have been dis- 
covered by the Indians, who had 23artly filled the boat 
"with goods, and had gone back to the store for more 
plunder. Seeing a vessel at anchor a short distance 
from Tea-Table Key, the son took off his shirt, and 
fastening it to a pole, hoisted it as a signal of distress. 
Twice they got aground, but the boy having been 
accustomed to managing a boat got her off with but 
slight detention. They had proceeded about half a 
mile when they discovered two Indians in a canoe just 
starting out in pursuit of them ; but seeing a boat 
approaching from the direction of the vessel, the 
Indians returned and set fire to the store and the few 
remaining buildings. The fugitives were taken up by 
a boat from the schooner Medium, which vessel they 
reached about noon — some ten hours from the time 



Massacre at Indian Key. 213 

the attack was first made on the island. They found 
on board several of the inhabitants of the Key who 
had escaped during the night, and among them the 
family of Mr. Howe, their neighbors and intimate 
friends. The captain of the vessel was very kind to 
the ladies, provided them with sheets in lieu of dresses, 
and made them as comfortable as could be expected 
under the circumstances. Mrs. Perrine and her chil- 
dren were almost destitute of clothing, and in a 
nearly exhausted state. Their night-garments were in 
tatters ; their hands sore from digging up the marl 
to protect their heads from the heat of the burning 
building; their shoulders smarting from contact with 
falling coals; and their faces blistered from long 
exposure to the scorching rays of a tropical noon-day 
sun reflected in a sea of polished glass. 

The next day Mr. Howe, with a few men from the 
schooner, returned to the island, gathered together the 
bones of Dr. Perrine from the ruins of his dwelling, 
and buried them under the broad spreading leaves of 
one of his favorite agaves on the beautiful island of 
Lower Matacumba, where perpetual summer reigns, 
and "fragrance ever clothes the flow'ring earth." 



214 K^y West. 

" Peace to the dust that in silence reposes, 

Beneath the dark shade of the cypress and yew : 
Let spring deck the spot with the earUest roses, 
And heaven wash the leaves with its holiest dew." 

The family remained on board of the schooner until 
the afternoon of the next day, when they were trans- 
ferred to " The Flirt," a United States vessel-of-war 
commanded by Capt. McLaughlin, who gave up his 
state-room to the ladies, and rendered them all the 
assistance in his power. The invalid daughter was 
carried on board on a cot, being too ill to stand ; but 
with careful nursing, and the skilful attendance of the 
ship's surgeon, Dr. Taliaferro, she soon began to 
improve in health and strength. The Flirt proceeded 
to Cape Florida, where she remained about a week, 
until the arrival of the steamer Santee, in which vessel 
the family took passage for St, Augustine under the 
care and protection of Dr, Edward Worrel, of the 
Army, who very kindly accompanied them to their 
friends at the North. 



LETTER XIV. 

Savannah, April, 1856. 

I LEFT Key West by the steamer Isabel late on the 
afternoon of the 16th instant, for this city. The day 
was lovely, the air balmy, the sky brilliant, and the 
sun as bright as ever gladdened a tropical landscape. 
Old Ocean himself was in the best of humors, his 
broad expansive face was placid and serene, and every- 
thing indicated a pleasant voyage. The deck of the 
steamer was crowded with passengers, most of whom 
were from the North, who had been seeking health 
and recreation in a warmer clime, and were now 
returning to their homes, willing to exchange the 
cloudless sky and balmy atmosphere of the sunny 
South for the more substantial comforts of home, 
and the companionship of kindred and friends. 



2i6 Savannah. 

" There is a magic in the name of home, 
Felt in the spirit's yearnings ; man may roam 
Careering on his wild and thoughtless way, 
Yet in all his wanderings is still within 
The attractive influence of that sunny spot, 

Home, sweet home 1" 

I was fortunate in meeting with a number of ladies 
and gentlemen whose acquaintance I had made in 
Cuba, and our greeting was as cordial as if we had 
known each other for years. It was really a pleasant 
reunion, which we celebrated on deck, in relating our 
individual experiences since we parted at Cuba. The 
evening was surpassingly lovely ; the sun had gone 
to his rest surrounded by a halo of golden effulgence ; 
and his pale-faced sister, the crescent moon, was incon- 
spicuous amid her innumerable progeny of bright and 
twinkling stars which bedecked 

" Night's dark pavilion. 



Spread wide o'er the wasteful deep." 

What can be more beautiful than a starry night on 
the ocean ; with naught but heaven above, heaven 
around, and heaven reflected in the water beneath. 



A Starry Night at Sea. 217 

It is one vast sea of splendor, boundless in space, and 
glorious in its illuminings. We remained on deck 
enjoying the scene before us — the jewelled firmament 
above, the balmy atmosphere around, and the silver- 
crested waves beneath breaking with gentle music 
against the sharp prow of our vessel as she flew over 
the water — until midnight was upon us and admo- 
nished us to retire. 

My state-room companion was a Lieutenant in the 
Army, who was on his way to Washington to receive 
orders. He was an intelligent and agreeable young 
man, about twenty-five years of age, and moreover, 
modest and unassuming ; which virtues are so rare 
among gentlemen of his profession that I take pleasure 
in noticing the fact. We laid ourselves upon our 
respective shelves and gossipped about things terres- 
trial until sleep weighed down my eyelids and steeped 
my senses in forgetfulness. I slept soundly until 
about daylight, when I was awakened by the accele- 
rated motion of the vessel, as if that blustering vaga- 
bond Boreas were tr3'ing to provoke the aqueous ele- 
ments to wrath ; unconscious, perhaps, that by so 
doing he would be very likely to excite the hile in us. 



2l8 Savannah. 

Sleep was now out of tlie question, and I lay rolling 
and tumbling about in my berth, until the morning 
watch was called, when I got up, and meandering to 
the deck, witnessed a scene of unsurpassed grandeur 
and sublimity, Alas ! what a change had come over 
the spirit of his Oceanic Majesty since I left the deck 
but a few hours before. Then he was 

" As meek, and mild, 



And gentle as an un weaned child." 

Now, he was dashing and splashing, rearing and 
tearing, with impetuous fury ; his hitherto serene 
countenance was writhed and distorted, and he was 
lashing the sides of our gallant vessel with angry 
vehemence. I sickened at the sight, and hastily re- 
treated to the cabin. Here the sound of the break- 
fast-bell fell discordantly on my ear, neither was it in 
harmony with the tone of my stomach. To me it 
was a mournful sound — a knell to my departed appe- 
tite — a requiem over lost joys and buried hopes. The 
captain suggested tea and toast as a sedative, and led 
the wa}'- to the breakfast-room. I followed " like a 
lamb to the slaughter." My limbs obeyed, but my 



Sea-sickness. 219 

stomacb rebelled. I reached the table, which was 
nearly unoccupied, but profusely covered with tempt- 
ing viands ; wondered they did not fall off ivJien the 
table rose to meet me; managed to sit down, the chair 
being fastened, drank one spoonful of tea, which was 
nauseous, and the toast was anything but appetising. 
They passed a plate of hot steak under my nose ; I 
could stand it no longer, but dropping my knife and 
fork hastily mounted the stairs, lest I might leave 
something on my plate not in the bill of fare. The 
cool air revived me. I began to take courage, 
and manfully resolved to walk the deck and banish 
such idle fancies. Proudly I arose ; the vessel rose 
with me ; she careened, I careened also ; she plunged, 
and I suppose that I must have " followed suit," for 
I suddenly found myself on my knees at one end of 
the vessel, paj'ing tribute to Neptune. 

How I managed to reach my state-room I hardly 
know ; but I do know that I remained there for 
twenty-four hours, suffering as I never suffered before. 
The nausea of sea-sickness I could endure ; but such 
incessant, torturing, racking pains in my head I never 
before experienced ; and the spasms in my stomach 



220 Savannah. 

were at times so severe, that I almost feared that my 
" mortal fabric was about to be dissolved." I did 
not close my eyes in sleep until long after midnight, 
when nature became exhausted, and I -relapsed into a 
state of forgetfulness. When I awoke the next 
morning, I had a few oranges brought to my room, 
which refreshed and invigorated me. I managed at 
breakfast to overcome my aversion to tea and toast, 
and a small piece of beef-steak was not unpalatable. 
Went on deck, found the aspect of nature changed, 
received the congratulations of friends, and your cor- 
respondent " was himself again." However, I am 
convinced more than ever that I have no stomach 
for the sea, and resolve for the fourth and last time, 
to confine my journeyings in future to terra-firma, or 
at least within sight of its genial shores. 

It is Ralph Waldo Emerson, I believe, who says 
that " sea-life is an acquired taste, like that for toma- 
toes and olives." This may be the experience of 
some voyagers, but not of all. I have tried a num- 
ber of times to acquire a liking for the sea, but the 
oftener I make the attempt the greater is my aversion 
to the saline condiment^ which invariably disturbs the 



Objections to Sea-Life. 221 

equilibrium of my stomach. Poets, in the phrensy 
of inspiration, may sing rapturously of " a life on the 
ocean wave, and a home on the rolling deep ; " but, 
much as I may admire the poetry and melody of the 
song, my feelings will not respond to the sentiment 
therein expressed. The recollections of my several 
experiences on ship-board are, I must say, jorovoca- 
tive of any but agreeable sensations. 

I have no objections to the sea in the prospective, 
when viewed from a comfortable position on dry 
land ; it is, in fact, from such a stand-point, a sublime 
and beautiful sight. Bat I do object to being " crib- 
bed, cabined, and confined " for an indefinite period 
in an uneasy vessel, where one is liable to be nau- 
seated by the villanous effluvium of bilge-water, or 
half stifled with mephitic air, even if fortunate 
enough to escape the horrors of sea-sickness. Fur- 
thermore, to be subjected to the capricious humors 
and insolent pranks of that old salt-water god, — he of 
the trident, who delights in annihilating your appe- 
tite, turning your stomach inside out, and making 
you appear as if you were " half seas over " when 
you have just begun the voyage — is not only disa- 



222 Savannah. 

greeable, but extremely mortifying to one of my 
staid, sober, and strictly temperate habits. 

Among our motley assemblage of passengers — 
some forty or fifty in number, and representing seve- 
ral different nations — were three or four, whose pecu- 
liarity of appearance or eccentricity of manner made 
them conspicuous. One individual, with a dark, 
sinister countenance, and heavy black beard, was 
pointed out to me as a Cuban millionaire, who was 
supposed to be engaged in the African slave-trade, 
and his great wealth the result of his accursed traffic 
in human flesh, A more morose and forbidding face 
I never saw on a human form. From beneath a 
heavy, overhanging brow, flashed one basilisk eye, as 
bright and coruscant as if the fire of a thousand fur- 
naces were burning there. The other eye was invisi- 
ble, being covered with a small black patch. If 
Blue-Beard ever existed except in the imaginations 
of credulous children, I think this individual must 
have been a lineal descendant, for he realized more 
fully my idea of that man-monster than any human 
being that I ever saw. Evidentl}' desiring to escape 
observation, he sat most of the time alone, in a 



A Cosmopolitan. 223 

retired part of the vessel, smoking a richly orna- 
mented pipe, of antique design ; he was not seen at 
the public table, nor was he known to hold any 
conversation, or to have communication with any of 
the passengers. 

Another individual, antipodal in every respect to 
the one just described, was, perhaps, fifty years of 
age, quite intelligent, well-dressed (although his 
clothes were beginning to look seedy), and evidently 
had seen much of the world. His good-natured face 
and sa7is souci manner were a card of introduction to 
most of the passengers, and had it not been for a pre- 
disposition which he evinced to indulge in the mar- 
vellous, he would have been a valuable acquisition to 
our floating society. I have, during my somewhat 
extensive intercourse with the world, observed hiunan 
nature in a great variety of phases. I have seen 
talking politicians; talking poets — many of whom 
are decidedly j^^osy ; talking lawyers — some of whom, 
like necessity, know no law ; talking divines, and 
those of the fraternity not particularly divine ; and 
last, but not least, talking women ! With the excep- 
tion of the latter (with whom, however, talking is 



224 Savannah. 

the rule, not the exception), I never before saw so 
garrulous a biped as the one I am now describing. 
He talked incessantly. Where he had not been was 
not worth visiting ; what he had not seen was not 
worth seeing ; what he had not endured was not 
martyrdom. He had visited Europe, Asia, Africa, 
and the various islands of the ocean ; had circum- 
navigated the globe, and doubled many a horn. He 
had picked up diamonds from Brazilian sands, and 
had his " pocket full of rocks " fresh from the mines 
of Australia. Had breakfasted on Mount Blanc, 
dined in the crater of Vesuvius, and supped on the 
Dead Sea ; had slept amid the ruins of the Alhambra, 
drunk wine on the top of Pompey's Pillar, and 
bathed in the Hellespont; had hunted buflfaloes on 
our western prairies, tigers in Bengal, and elepbants 
in the jungles of Ceylon; had explored the Polar 
regions, and travelled over Sahara's desert waste. He 
knew every one, from his Holiness the Pope to the 
" King of the Cannibal Islands " — from the Czar of 
Russia to the Great Mogul himself — and enjoyed an 
intimate companionship with the seventh son of the 
world-reuowned Baron Munchausen, whose adveu- 



An English Exquisite. 225 

tures were but " small vegetables " compared -with 
his more wonderful exploits. 

Another personage attracted the notice of many 
of the passengers by his peculiar dialect, and exqui- 
site cockney-air. He was a verdant sprig of the 
English upper-ten-dom, who was just emerging from 
a chrysalis state into an adolescent butterfly. This 
tender scion had but recently left his parental conser- 
vatory in Yorkshire — his speech being profusely inter- 
larded with aspirated vowels and provincialisms — and 
was now abroad in search of a field in which to sow 
his wild oats. He was an exquisite of the "first 
water," who sported more airs than hairs, although 
an incipient moustache was beginning to shadow his 
lip, and a few downy hairs were faintly discernible 
on his effeminate chin. On the fore-finger of his 
right hand he wore a ring about the size of a Spanish 
quarter, which he ostentatiously displayed as he 
removed his cigar from his mouth and discoursed 
upon its delectable qualities. He smoked none but the 
most " hexpensive cigars," those manufactured " hespe- 
cially" for him by the celebrated Cabana, He had con- 
siderable to say about the "governor" — meaning his 

10 



226 Savannah. 

paternal ancestor — who, it seemed, was very desirous 
that a tutor should accompany his son on his travels ; 
to which the youth objected, imagining, no doubt, that 
it would be an impediment to his free and easy locomo- 
tion. He thought " Hamerica did very well for a new 
country, but it never would compare with ' Hold Hing- 
land.' " During a conversation with one of the passen- 
gers, I heard him say something about " the nup- 
tial haltar," evidently referring to the noose matrimo- 
nial, which is a halter to some, and a silken tie to others. 
Speaking of matrimony, I am reminded of an 
amusing incident that occurred during the last day of 
our voyage. Among the passengers were a newly 
married couple whose disparity in age, and want of 
" spiritual affinity," were remarked by all who saw 
them. The gentleman was apparently on the down- 
hill side of fifty, while the lady was young enough 
to be his daughter, even had he not been married 
until somewhat late in life. They were mated, but 
not matched ; and joined together by the "iron bands 
of wedlock," not by the holy ties of mutual love and 
affection. There was evidently as much dissimilarity 
in their tastes and dispositions, as disparity in their 



I 



A Badly-Matched Pair. 227 

ages. The husband was loving and devoted ; the wife 
cold and indifferent. He was uxorious and demon- 
strative, while she was imperturbable, and at times 
almost ill-natured. Wherever she was, there he would 
surely be. If she remained on deck, he was by her 
side. If she went below, he followed her like a sha- 
dow. This continual watchfulness and unremitting 
attention were apparently annoying to her, and she 
spoke to him at times somewhat petulantl}^ Still, 
the good-natured and adoring husband did not relax 
in his attentions to his younger half, but tried to anti- 
cipate all her wants. One day, during an unusually 
heavy sea, she left her seat on the deck and hastily 
retreated to the cabin, followed by her husband. In 
a few moments he returned, with fright depicted in 
his countenance, and inquired for a doctor, saying 
that his wife " had been suddenly taken very ill, and 
he was afraid she was dying," The captain was 
called, and after making a few inquiries of the fright- 
ened husband, sent to his stateroom, not a physician 
but — a chambermaid ivith a hasin. The finale of this 
ludicrous affair can readily be imagined by those at 
all familiar with nautical life. ****** 



LETTER XV. 

Montgomery, Ala., April, 1856. 

My last letter was written from the lovely metro- 
polis of genial, warm-hearted Georgia, where I 
remained for three days, just long enough to view the 
city, and some of its suburban celebrities. To me, 
there is something balmy and healing associated with 
Savannah ; its very name being suggestive of a pecu- 
liar feature of southern scenery. Providence intended 
it as a kind of familiar resting-place between the frigid 
North and the scorching Tropics ; its mild, equable 
atmosphere preparing the cautious invalid for a tran- 
sition to either of the two extremes. 

The city lies about eighteen miles from the sea on 
the Savannah River, a stream of considerable import- 
ance which forms the dividing line between South 
Carolina and Georgia, and is of no inconsiderable mag- 



Description of Savannah. 229 

nitude, being navigable, during a part of the year, for 
vessels of large tonnage to Savannah, and for steam- 
boats almost its entire length. The country bordering 
on the Carolina shore is low, level, and unattractive in 
appearance ; but the soil is rich, easily irrigated, and 
well adapted to the cultivation of rice, which is the 
principal staple of th? Palmetto State. 

Savannah is situated on a sandy bluff or strip of 
table-land some thirty or forty feet above the level of 
the river, and has a population of twenty-four thou- 
sand, including free blacks and slaves. The streets 
are wide, and regularly laid out ; with twenty-four 
public squares or parks, which are filled with shade 
trees, giving to the city a peculiarly rural aspect. 
Among the trees most noticeable were the noble live- 
oak ; the curious mulberry ; the modest elm ; the fra- 
grant magnolia, and the much admired Pride of 
India, which was just beginning to bloom. 

This has been very aptly denominated *' the city 
of shade and silence." It is certainly the most pen- 
sive, quiet, and sober-looking city that I have ever 
visited. The streets are all hushed and silent " 'neath 
the cloistered boughs" of umbrageous trees, the foli- 



230 Montgomery. 

age being so dense that daylight is almost excluded ; 
and what little remains, is softened down to a per- 
petual twilight. The sand is so deep in the streets 
that carriages pass along as noiselessly as gondolas in 
the canals of Venice. The few people to be seen 
out of doors, and the absence of that hum of busi- 
ness incident to most northern cities, render the 
stillness more deep and apparent. As you pass 
through the silent and almost deserted streets, you 
wish for a little more bustle and appearance of busi- 
ness. The quiet is really oppressive. You are not 
in a solitude, but surrounded by evidences of popu- 
lation ; therefore, you feel the want of that hum inci- 
dent to life, just as much as when wandering in the 
fields and groves, you long for the music of birds, 
the buzz of insects, or the sounds of running brooks 
and waving trees. A sabbath-day stillness prevails 
here at all times, and were it not that the shops 
and places of business are closed on that day, it 
would be difficult to tell wdien Sunday began or 
ended. 

It is a noticeable fact that this city is destitute of 
any prominent thoroughfare — any one fashionable 



Laurel Grove Cemetery. 231 

street for promenade and shopping — where, during 
pleasant weather, the butterflies of fashion can 

" Shop, and lounge, and gaze, and stare, 
And show themselves, — and take the air." 

No one street that I saw, seemed to be pre-eminent. 
The few handsome shops and stores are so scattered 
about the city, that it has a decidedly rural aspect — • 
more the appearance of a quiet country village, than 
of a commercial city. In one of the principal squares 
is a monument to General Greene, of Eevolutionary 
fame. Another elegant monument is now being 
erected in Chippewa square, to the memory of Count 
Pulaski, a brave Polish officer who was killed during 
an attack on Savannah in 1779, when the city was 
in the possession of the English. 

Savannah has many suburban attractions. The 
country around is pleasantly diversified with hill and 
valle}'', winding streams, and patches of wood-land. 
Just beyond the limits of the city is the "Laurel Grove 
Cemetery," a quiet, lovely spot, where flowers bloom 
upon grassy mounds, and vines planted by the hand 
of affection twine their tendrils around many a sculp- 



232 Montgomery. 

tured shrine where repose the loved ones ^Yhose 
memories are thus perpetuated. 

" Oh ! noiseless city of the mighty dead ! 

Lonely and mute, yet are thy annals fraught 
With solemn teachings, and thy hroad page spread 
With the rich lore of soul-awakening thought." 

Some five or six miles from here is the Cemetery of 
Buenaventura, one of the most solemn and appropri- 
ate burial-places imaginable. Nature has done more 
for the adornment of this spot than Art. It contains 
no elegant mausoleums, and but few monuments suf- 
ficiently conspicuous to attract the attention of the 
unobservant visitor. It is an immense grove of giant 
trees, or rather a succession of broad avenues, crossing 
each other at right angles, carpeted by a smooth green- 
sward, and bordered with stately trees, whose far- 
reaching branches are festooned with the sombre-hued 
moss peculiar to this climate. As far as the eye can 
reach are vistas of interwoven boughs ; the pendent 
drapery in wild beauty wreathes the patriarchal oaks 
'till the " mingled fret-work" seems like the embodi- 
ment of some vast cathedral aisle. There was some- 



Georgia Cottonocracy. 233 

thing peculiarly attractive to me in the gloomy gran- 
deur of this forest sanctuary; a weird, unearthly 
beauty in its silent groves; and the sighing breeze, 
mournful and dirge-like, as it was wafted through the 
shadowy aisles of Nature's cloister, served to lift the 
soul 

"Above the thoughts of earth, and give it power 
Nearer to commune with its kindred Heaven." 

During the few days that I remained in Savannah, 
I had an opportunity to see something of the Georgia 
Cottonocracy, and to get an inkling of some of their 
peculiar habits. Almost every man that I heard 
spoken to was addressed by the title of Judge, Gover- 
nor, or General. Very few were of a lower grade than 
Colonel, and to be called Captain or Esquire would 
indicate a person of doubtful reputation, or at least 
one not entitled to much consideration. The planters 
residing near Savannah usually come to the city early 
in the morning on horseback, or in crazy one-horse 
chaises, and remain during the day at the Pulaski 
House or some other favorite place of resort. 

A Georgian is seldom seen walking in the streets, 
10* 



234 Montgomery. 

particularly during the heat of the day. If from any 
cause he is obliged to resort to that kind of locomo- 
tion, he will in all probability be accompanied by his 
" nigger," to carry his coat or hold an umbrella over 
his head to keep off the sun. These Southrons have 
a great aversion to bodily exercise. It is a popular 
maxim with them, that " work was intended for nig- 
gers, not for gentlemen." 

They are constitutionally or climatically indolent, 
and will sit a great part of the day in a shady place, 
smoking, drinking mint-juleps (which are a southern 
concoction), discussing the price of cotton and rice, or 
estimating the value of their "niggers." Occasionally 
they will wander into the abstruse regions of politics; 
but if the weather is very hot, that exciting topic is 
avoided, on account of its liability to engender caloric 
and bad feelings. The subject that most interests 
them is the fleecy product of the cotton plant. It is 
cotton in the morning, cotton at noon, and cotton at 
night. A kind of cotton insanity appears to affect all 
classes. To their distempered imaginations, cotton is 
the pabulum that nourishes and sustains the entire 
North and " the rest of mankind ;" cotton, the " open 



Macon. 23^ 

sesame" to wealth, power, honor, and personal and 
national aggrandizement ; cotton, the Atlas which 
upholds and the lever that moves the entire world. 
In fact, they consider cotton the vis viice — " the one 
thing needful." Upon it is based the boasted power 
of the South, which, without it, would sink into com- 
parative insignificance, and the inhabitants lose their 
prestige with foreign nations, and in point of influ- 
ence be hut little above the ^^ 7nudsilV^ Yankees at the 
North. * * * 

I left on the morning of the 22d instant for Macon, 
a growing inland town of some size, situated at the 
head of steamboat navigation on the Ocmulge River, 
and about two hundred miles distant, by railroad, 
from Savannah, I found here one of the finest rail- 
road de})ots that I had seen since I left the North, 
also a good hotel, which merits " golden opinions," if 
it docs not reap golden rewards, for its excellent bill 
of fare. On an eminence overlooking the town is the 
Georgia Female Seminary, an imposing edifice, under 
the direction of the Methodist Conference, which, ac- 
cording to their published circular, was "instituted 
for the purpose of giving to female education a more 



236 Montgomery. 

systematic, thorough, and extended course than is 
now to be obtained in our best seminaries." 

The country along the railroad, between Macon and 
Savannah, is level and monotonous, and the scenery, 
for the most part, tame and uninteresting. We passed 
through immense " pine barrens," with occasional 
patches of verdure, and innumerable swamps of tan- 
gled wild-wood, with here and there a tall, melancholy 
cypress, with its trailing garments of moss, looking 
the very impersonation of gloom. The soil, as far as 
I could judge, was mostly sand and a red clay, and 
the principal productions corn, cotton, and tobacco, 
with occasional fields of rice wherever the land could 
be overflowed. We passed numerous gangs of slaves 
at work on the road, or going from one plantation to 
another with their tools in their hands; and they 
would invariably " lay down the shovel and the hoe," 
strike an attitude, and with a comical grin gaze at the 
retreating cars until they were out of sight. 

I spent the next night at Columbus, a staid, sober, 
puritanical looking town, where many of the streets 
were so wide and covered with verdure that they 
looked more like longitudinal jjarks than highways 



The Falls of the Coweta. 237 

for travel. Some of the streets are said to be nearly 
two hundred feet in width, and the buildings set so far 
back that the place has more the appearance of a 
thickly settled rural district than of a city of some ten 
thousand inhabitants. It is situated on the Chatta- 
hoochee River, which is, at this point, the dividing 
line between Georgia and Alabama, and is said to 
have the finest water-power in the state. I remained 
there but one night, and had no opportunity to see 
much of the city, my observations being confined to a 
few of the streets near the principal hotel. I learned, 
on inquiry, that most of the business was transacted 
in the vicinity of the river, where there are a number 
of mills, manufactories, and foundries in successful 
operation. 

A short distance above Columbus are some pictu- 
resque rapids in the Chattahoochee, overlooked by a 
fine rocky bluff, famous in story as the "Lover's 
Leap."* The flow of the river is rapid and wild, 
broken by rocks, over which the water frets and foams 
in angry surges. On each side are lofty and irregular 

* The following account is condensed from tlie narrative of T. A. 
Richards, published by the Appletons. 



238 Montgomery. 

cliffs, covered to tbeir verge with majestic forest trees. 
Near here are the Falls of Coweta. 

In the early part of the present century, this region 
was inhabited by two powerful tribes of Indians — the 
Cussetas and the Cowetas. Formerly they were friends, 
but then the bitterest of enemies. It is not related 
how this animosity originated, or how long it had 
existed ; but it had rankled and burned in their 
breasts until its pent-up fury was ready to break out 
at any fancied insult or trivial cause. 

The proud chief of the Cussetas had now become an 
old man, and was loved and venerated by all who 
rallied at his battle-cry. The boldest heart in all his 
tribe quailed before his angry eye, and the proudest 
did him reverence. The old man had outlived all his 
sons. One by one they had been called by the Great 
Spirit from their hunting grounds, and in the flush of 
their manhood had gone to the spirit-land. Yet he 
was not alone, ^fhe youngest of his children, the 
dark-eyed Mohina, was still sheltered in his bosom, 
and all his love for the beautiful in life was bestowed 
upon her. The young maiden rivalled in grace the 
bounding fawn, and the young warriors said of her. 



The Lover's Leap. 239 

that " the smile of the Great Spirit was not so beauti- 
ful." While yet a child, she had been betrothed to 
the Young Eagle of the Covvetas, the proud scion of 
their warrior chief. But stern hatred had stifled 
kindly feelings in the hearts of all save these two 
young creatures, and the pledged word was broken 
when the smoke of the calumet was extinguished. 
Mohina no longer dared to meet the young chief 
openly, and death faced them when they sat in their 
lone, wild trysting-place. Their young hearts had 
hopes in the future, but all in vain, for time served 
but to render more fierce and deadly the hatred which 
existed between the tribes. Skirmishes were fre- 
quent between the hunters, and open hostilities seemed 
inevitable. 

At length a jealous rival of the young Coweta 
tracked the maiden to the place of meeting, and 
peering through the tangled underwood, saw her in 
the arms of her lover, and heard from his lips "sweet 
words and passionate." He sped back to the Cusse- 
tas, gathered together their warriors, and hastened to 
the wild glen where the lovers were secreted. They 
fled on the approach of their enemies, and love and 



240 Montgomery. 

terror added wings to their flight. For a while they 
outran their pursuers ; but the strength of Mohina 
failed her in a perilous moment, and had not the 
Young Eagle caught her to his fast beating heart, the 
enemy would have made sure their fate. He rushed 
onward up the narrow defile before him, and in a few 
'moments stood on the verge of a dizzy, fearful height. 
Wildly the maiden clung to him, and even then, at 
that critical moment, his heart throbbed proudly be- 
neath his burden. Already he heard the deep, labored 
breathing of one of his pursuers — the hated rival ; and, 
as he slightly turned his head, the gleam of an uplifted 
tomahawk flashed upon his eye. The young chief 
gave him one quick, piercing look, and with a loud 
yell of triumph sprang into the seething waters below. 
Still the young maiden clung to him, nor yet did the 
death-struggle part them. The mad waves dashed 
fearfully over them, and their loud wail was a fitting 
requiem to their departing spirits. The horror- 
stricken warriors gazed wildly into the foaming tor- 
rent, then dashed with reckless haste down the decli- 
vity to bear the sad tidings to the old chief. He heard 
their tale in silence ; but sorrow was on his spirit, and 



Appearance of the Country. 241 

it was broken. Henceforth his seat was vacant by the 
council fire, and its red light gleamed fitfully upon his 
grave. * * * 

After leaving Columbus we crossed the Chattahoo- 
chee River into Alabama, and proceeded by rail to 
this city, which is the capital of this state, and next in 
commercial importance to Mobile. When we entered 
Alabama, the appearance of the country began to im- 
prove. The soil was better; the agricultural districts 
richer ; the scenery more varied ; and all kinds of 
vegetation further advanced. Swelling hills crowned 
with trees in full foliage, and rich valleys and fertile 
plains clad in living verdure, with tiny streams mean- 
dering in the distance, formed a picture on which the 
eye delighted to linger. 

I arrived in this city late in the afternoon, and 
secured a room at one of the best hotels, although it 
does not compare favorably with our third-rate New 
York hotels, and is not such as a stranger would 
expect to find in a town as large as this, and of equal 
commercial and political importance. I shall remain 
here for several days, and will write again before I 
take my departure. * * * 



LETTER XVI. 

Montgomery, April, 1S56. 

There is a dreamy languor in the climate of the 
South, which indisposes one to exertion, and even the 
effort of letter writing — which, under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, is but " a labor of love" — appears to me, 
at this time, to be an almost herculean task. 

Montgomery is located at the head of steamboat 
navigation on the Alabama River, three hundred 
and thirty-one miles from Mobile, and has a popula- 
tion of about ten thousand. It is the western termi- 
nus of the Montgomery and West Point railroad, 
and has water communication with several important 
places. Its commerce is based mainly upon corn and 
cotton, about one hundred thousand bales of the 
fleecy product being annually shipped at this place. 
In the way of manufactures, Montgomery does but 



Environs of Montgomery. 243 

little, except, as some one has said, " to manufacture 
the politics of the State." It is the great political 
centre of the Gulf States, and the congregating place 
for southern politicians, newspaper reporters, office- 
seekers, et hoc genus omne. 

The city is beautifully situated. The business por- 
tion is in a valley extending nearly to the river ; 
while the capitol occupies an eminence overlooking 
the lower part of the city, and the country which lies 
beyond it. Encircling this valley is a succession of 
hills and gentle undulations, forming as it were a 
natural amphitheatre dotted with villas and country- 
seats. I made the circuit on horseback. Every emi- 
nence that I ascended, revealed some new object to 
admire ; some Italian villa or cottage orne peeping out 
from its wilderness of shrubbery, or a lordly mansion 
reposing in dignity beneath the perennial shade of 
giant live-oaks — the acknowledged monarchs of the 
southern forests. I rode for several hours through 
these delightfully picturesque suburbs, and had my 
admiration excited at every step. Nature created 
this a paradise. Art adorned and beautified it. But 
in this flowery Eden the trail of the serpent is visible. 



244 Montgomery. 

Notwithstanding its elevated location, the city is said 
to be quite unhealthy. The yellow fever, that pesti- 
lential scourge of the South, prevails here at times to 
an alarming extent, and other diseases less virulent 
in their nature seem to be, as it were, indigenous to 
this locality. 

During my rambles I came to a spot of such quiet 
beauty and loveliness, that I stopped and gazed upon 
it for a long time in silent admiration. It was an 
inclosure of two or three acres, on whose swelling 
bosom of velvet softness reposed a modest little cot- 
tage almost buried in a wilderness of foliage and 
flowers. Standing near were two parental oaks, the 
protecting deities of the place, whose gigantic, out- 
stretched limbs, gnarled and defiant, strove in vain to 
meet above, and hide their offspring from the face of 
the over-arching sky. Encircling this classic retreat 
was a perennial hedge almost smothered in the 
embrace of creeping vines and plants in full bloom. 
Koses of various hues, and the fragrant honeysuckle 
and yellow flowering jasmine, were intermingled, 
yielding alike their perfume to the breeze, and filling 
the surrounding air with the purest life. 



A Fast City. 245 

" A sweeter spot on earth was never found : 
I looked and looked, and still with new delight, 
Such joy my soul, such pleasm-es filled my sight." 

Time flew on angels' wings, and the shades of evening 
were fast gathering, before I became conscious of the 
lateness of the hour. Returning to the hotel, I supped, 
and then wandered in the streets, which were as bril- 
liant as handsome ladies and gas could make them. 
The shops and stores are all of modern style, and 
apparently well stocked with fashionable goods. 
Progress is unmistakably written on everything. 
Fogyism, that ancient enemy of enterprise and 
improvement, had fled at the first scream of the 
steam-whistle, and has not been seen here since. It 
is evidently a fast city, with its fast horses, fast men, 
and fast women. The latter are said to be the best in 
a long race, and generally manage to distance all their 
competitors. I find that two-forty is the stand- 
ard time here among bipeds as well as quadrupeds, 
and those of less speed are excluded from the course 
by the arbiters of fashion. 

The celebrated violinist Ole Bull gave a concert 



246 Montgomery. 

here the other evening, assisted, according to the bills, 
"by an eminent pianist, a celebrated performer on the 
cornet, and a distinguished Prima Donna." The 
latter title was evidently a misnomer ; as the lady, in 
my opinion, was not sufficiently skilled in the art of 
melody to be entitled to the first place in any opera, 
unless an Ethiopian burlesque. 

Ole himself is in a very good state of preservation, 
considering that his life has been one of disappoint- 
ments,, reverses, and vicissitudes. He is not likely to 
hang up his fiddle and his bow for some years to 
come, unless so ordered by Providence ; although I 
observed that the frosty fingers of Time had been play- 
ing with his locks and left their indelible impress. 

Montgomery has more the air and appearance of a 
New York town than any Southern city that I have 
yet visited. Notwithstanding its Northern aspect, 
most of the inhabitants are ultra Southerners, who 
adhere with tenacity to their "peculiar institutions." 
The legislature not being in session, I have not had 
an opportunity to sec much of the office-holding and 
office-seeking chivalry. Many of the guests of our 
hotel appear to be members of the legal profession ; 



The Fleecy Product. 247 

at least, so I judged from tbeir attachment to the bar- 
room, which is the best patronized part of the house. 
Its patrons, however, do not all seem to be professional 
men ; but planters, cotton -brokers, and others without 
any particular business or occupation. The topic 
most frequently discussed is cotton, and " niggers," 
which being rather a dry subject, those engaged in it 
were often obliared to resort to the bar, to lubricate 
their vocal organs, so that they may be understood 
by those around them. 

Montgomery has become a great mart for cotton. 
Nearly all that is grown in Central Alabama is 
brought to this city to be shipped down the river, 
which flows for more than four hundred miles through 
the richest cotton region of the South, and carries 
each year thousands of bales of this valuable com- 
modity to Mobile and New Orleans. Cotton is in 
reality the circulating blood which gives vitality 
to the state. All classes arc interested in its culture, 
from the princely merchant to the lowly artisan ; the 
wealthy planter with his broad fields and army of 
slaves, as well as the humble occupant of a cabin 
with a few contiguous acres. A failure of the cotton 



248 Montgomery. 

crop would cast a gloom over the entire community. 
It would paralyze their internal commerce, create a 
panic in their monetary affairs, and be absolutely 
ruinous to all planters of small means. Negroes, 
unlike their masters, are never affected by the price of 
cotton. Sometimes their market value is slightly 
diminished by a failure of the crop, or increased 
somewhat by an abundant harvest ; yet they, as a 
class, are generally indifferent to its fluctuations. If 
they are not over-tasked or abused, and have a suffi- 
ciency of creature comforts, they appear to be satis- 
fied and happy. 

I find that the cost of living at the South, especially 
in cities and large towns, is considerably greater than 
at the North. I was told by a wealthy resident of this 
city that it would be cheaper for him to board with 
his entire family — some eight or ten in number — at 
any of the first-class hotels in New York, than to 
keep house here, notwithstanding he owned all his 
family servants and the dwelling he occupied. Most 
kinds of food, with the exception of those Southern 
staphs^ " hog and hominy," are very dear, and the 
supply is not always equal to the demand. At least 



A Slave Household Expensive. 249 

I have found it so in several cases when my appe- 
tite has been sharpened by travel. Many of their 
luxuries are brought from the North, but frequently, 
when they reach their place of destination, they no 
longer deserve the name, time and the climate having 
so impaired their edible qualities as to render them 
only fit to be used in the manufacture of bacon. 

The keeping of so many slaves about their dwell- 
ings is an important item in the expense of living. 
Kot that the food they eat and the clothes they wear, 
cost so very much ; but they are idle, careless, and 
destructive, and wasteful to excess. In the culinary 
department, every article of food, whether prepared 
or in a ctu.de state, has to be kept under lock and 
key ; and when wanted for use^ weighed or measured 
out, or it will be wasted or dispensed with ruinous 
prodigality. I have observed) in passing some of 
their first-class residences, the yard literally swarming 
with these human chattels ; frequently a dozen or 
more in sight, of both sexes, and comprising at least 
three generations. Of that number, perhaps not 
more than two or three were of any service to their 

owner ; the rest being incapacitated for work, by 

11 



250 Montgomery. 

youth, infirmity, or age. I have no doubt that two 
or three domestics of the Teutonic or Celtic race, at a 
cost of as many hundred dollars per annum, will do 
more work, and with much less waste, than a whole 
femily of slaves, whose yearly keeping and ivasting 
cannot be accounted less than from eight to twelve 
hundred dollars. 

Shave labor undoubtedly is profitable to the owners 
or occupants of large inland plantations, away from 
cities and towns, where the able-bodied of both sexes 
are made available as field hands. But here, as well 
as in other populous places at the South, where they 
are mainly employed as house servants, or in taking 
care of the premises of their owners, the labor of the 
few hardly compensates for the cost of maintaining 
tlifi many. This class of servants are allowed more 
liberties than plantation negroes ; of these they take 
advantage, and shirk labor whenever they can. 

To a Northerner imbued with republican principles 
and inheriting the sentiments and prejudices of his 
Puritan ancestors, the existence of shiver}^, in its most 
favorable form, must appear unnatural and forbidding. 
But a few months' residence at the South will, I opine, 



Slave Laws of Cuba. 251 

so change his views and soften his prejudices that he 
will regard the system with less abhorrence. I am no 
friend to slavery in the abstract, neither do I admire 
the practical workings of the system, as it is not in 
accordance with my views of equal-rights and uni- 
versal freedom^ Yet from observations made durinsr 

o 

a two months' residence at the South, I am convinced 
that the slaves, as a class, are not so badly off as 
many of us suppose. They are generally well treated, 
and enjoy as many, if not more physical comforts 
than a majority of the free negroes at the North ; and 
I am inclined to believe that the masters are, on the 
whole, more to he pitied than the slaves themselves. 

The laws of Cuba are more favorable to emancipa- 
tion, and protect the negro far better than do ours. 
The slaves on that island, according to the Code, 
must be worked only a specified number of hours 
each day, and their masters are obliged to provide 
them with a permanent subsistence. On Sundaj^s 
and holidays they are allowed to work in their own 
gardens, or employ their time as they choose. Being 
by law protected in the enjoj^mcnt of a certain amount 
of propert}^, they can, if disposed, apply their earnings 



252 Montgomery. 

to the purchase of their own freedom. The value 
of a slave, which is established by arbitration, in 
no case exceeds five hundred dollars, although his 
market value may be considerably more ; and as 
soon as he has accumulated fifty dollars, his mas- 
ter is obliged to accept it towards the purchase of 
his freedom. Every instalment thus made secures 
for the slave a proportionate control of his own time, 
and it is not uncommon to see slaves who have three 
or four days in the week at their disposal. In case 
he should be sold before the expiration of his bondage, 
the amount he has paid must be carried to his credit 
by the new owner. A slave may also have the bene- 
fit of a change of masters provided he can show that 
he has been ill used. If, however, he can find some 
one willing to become his purchaser, and the parties 
cannot agree upon his value, they go before a com- 
missioner appointed by government, who fixes a price, 
which the owner is obliged to accept, and in return 
make out a bill of sale to the new purchaser. The 
negro may have so bad a reputation that he cannot 
find any one willing to buy him. In that event, he 
remains with his master, who liaving taken him for 



Separation of Families. 253 

ivorse instead of better^ as the ladies sometimes take 
their husbands, is obliged to feed, clothe, and take 
care of him during sickness and health, in decrepitude 
and age. But the slaves in Cuba are regarded by 
their owners more as chattels than human beings, 
and there exists none of that affectionate regard so 
often manifested between master and servant in the 
Southern States. The slaves here, as a class, are 
more contented and happy, and apparently much 
better off than most of the emancipated negroes. 
The free negroes of the South, to speak paradoxically, 
are not in reality as free as the slaves themselves, and 
are apparently less happy and contented. Even the 
African in his bondage feels his own superiority, and 
looks the very picture of contemptuous pity as he 
exclaims — " He, poor miserable nigger, has no massa 
to take care of him." 

Among the many objectionable features in the 
institution of slavery, the separation of families and 
the sundering of conjugal ties have always appeared 
to me the most odious and inhuman. I find, on 
inquiry, that this is seldom practised — at least, not to 
very great extent ; and from the slaves themselves, 



254 Montgomery. 

I learn that this separation, when it does exist, is not 
generally regarded by them as a very great affliction. 

I had a conversation a few days ago with an nnc- 
tuous specimen of Ham-amty by the name of " Nicl^," 
who was as black as his Satanic namesake, but of 
fewer evil propensities, if there is any truth in phy- 
siognomy. I asked him his age. 

" Thirty seben nighabouts, Massa !" said he, respect- 
fully touching his hat. 

" Are you married, Nick ?" 

" Yas, Massa, I spose I is !" 

"How many children have you?" 

" Wall, I spects I'm de fader of ten, yaw, yaw." 
Here he displayed a set of teeth that would have 
excited the envy of many a Northern belle. 

" Ten children? Why, Nick, that is quite a family 
for so young a man as you !" 

" Why yas, Massa, Ise some on children !" 

" How old is your wife ?" 

" Do-no zackly, but reckon she be some younger 
dan me !" 

" Is she stout and healthy ?" 

" She be all dat, massa !" 



Talk with a Slave. 255 

" Does she belong to your master?" 

" No, her massa hves a heap ways from here !" 

" How often do you go to see her ?" 

" Do-no zackly, sometimes once a month, and some- 
times nary as often !" 

" Wouldn't you like to see your wife and children 
more frequently ?" 

" I do-no, sar, sometimes I tink I would, but massa 
says I go dare nuflf, and he knows better dan me." 

This conversation occurred nearly as I liave related 
it, and is a fair specimen of the stolidity and indifte- 
rence of the negroes on most of the Southern planta- 
tions. I refer to the genuine, full-blooded African, 
before his admixture with the gentle blood of the 
chivalric South, for, to use a sporting phrase, "blood 
will tell," whether it be in the horses of the North, 
or in the colored chattels of the South. It is some- 
thing that will reveal itself whether in man or beast. 
But a truce to this nonsense, this dark rendering of a 
dark subject. 

I came to this city contemplatiiig a trip down the 
Alabama Kivcr to Mobile, and from there to New 
Orleans, but the weather is becoming so hot tliat I 



256 Montgomery. 

almost fear, in my present state of health, to risk a 
visit to those "infected districts," or to trust myself 
for three or four days on a crowded steamer, with 
indifferent accommodations. If I abandon this trip, 
I shall seek a more invigorating climate. My next 
letter will probably be from New Orleans or Nash- 
ville. ******* 



LETTER XVII. 

Nashville, Tenk., May, 1856. 
My last letter was written from Montgomery, that 
lovely city in the green heart of Alabama, where I 
spent a few days very pleasantly. My route from 
there lay in an easterly direction, for nearly a hun- 
dred miles, to the Chattahoochee Eiver, and being 
diversified by hill and dale, woodland and stream, 
was highly picturesque. I was surprised to see so 
many varieties of trees, shrubs, and creeping vines in 
the forests and swamps through which we passed. 
There was the stately live-oak, the melancholy elm, 
the mournful cypress, the green-leaved laurel, the 
white-canopied dog-wood, and the scarlet-flowering 
red-wood, with its leafless branches thickly covered 
with delicate rose-tinted flowers. Conspicuous among 

the shrubs and vines was the wild honeysuckle with 

11* 



258 Nashville. 

its odorous breath, and the yellow-flowering jasmine 
overburdened with fragrance and wreathing with 
graceful festoons the stately oak and lonely shrub. 

After we crossed the Chattahoochee into Georgia, 
the country appeared less highly cultivated, and the 
face of Nature less attractive. The same change was 
visible in the faces of the inhabitants along our route, 
showing that animate as well as inanimate Nature is 
impressible and assimilating in its character, and, like 
the chameleon, " assumes the hue of the object with 
which it comes in contact." Our train jDrocceded 
quite slowly, and stopped long enough at every sta- 
tion to enable me to see something of the country and 
the inhabitants ; and I must say that I was not favora- 
bly impressed with the fertility of the one or the pros- 
perity and enterprise of the other. The land was 
evidently not more than half cultivated, and the build- 
ings were rude and primitive in appearance — unlike 
most of our comfortable farm-houses at the North. 

Cotton, rice, and sweet potatoes are the principal 
staples of Georgia; although the small farms in the 
interior produce pigs and poultry, Indian corn and 
tobacco, with a few kinds of grain for home consump- 



Natural Productions ot Georgia. 259 

lion. The most v^aluablc "domestic unimals" arc alli- 
gators, negroes, rattlesnakes, pickaninnies, and scor- 
pions, which are indigenous to this climate, and grow 
spontaneously in the numerous lagoons, swamps, and 
rivers. But I am far from wishing to disparage this 
state, which is, without doubt, one of the most wealthy 
and enterprising of the cotton states. With a diver- 
sity of soil, and a climate half tropical, Georgia has 
within itself abundant sources of prosperity and 
wealth. Its extensive domains are traversed by navi- 
gable rivers, and its eighty miles of sea-coast are lined 
with islands, fertile in sea-island cotton, and capable 
of producing many tropical fruits and vegetables. 
The southern part is low, level, and interspersed with 
swamps, which are well adapted to the cultivation of 
rice. In the interior arc rich alluvial bottoms and 
table-lands, suited to the growth of the different kinds 
of cotton ; while many parts of the north, though 
mountainous and apparently almost sterile, will, if 
properly cultivated, yield a fair compensation to the 
husbandman. 

I evidently passed through the most unattractive 
portion of the state ; for I saw nothing in inanimate 



26o Nashville. 

nature to admire, although I was greatly amused at 
some of the animate objects which came under my 
observation. The inhabitants, as a class, were cer- 
tainly the most unpolished specimens of humanity 
that I ever met. But, without doubt, many of these 
rough back- woods-men were "the bone and sinew" of 
our country ; men of strong hands and warm hearts, 
and worthy of our highest respect. 

During this excursion, I saw for the first time a 
genuine specimen of the "Georgia cracker," fresh from ' 
the pine barrens of his native state ; so that this embo- 
diment of the spirit of youthful romance and imagina- 
tion is no longer a myth, but a creature of flesh and 
blood — a veritable history, in which he is chronicled 
as the only being on airth capable of " administering 
consolation" to a live Yankee, or cute enough to out- 
wooden-nutmeg an itinerant Connecticut clock:ped- 
ler. He entered the cars at a small way:station near 
the town of La Grange, carrying on his arm a pair of 
old-fashioned russet-leather saddlctbags (large enough 
to have contained a week's provender for man and 
beast), which he hung on the back of an unoccupied 
seat, and seated himself with his face towards me, as 



A "Georgia Cracker." 261 

if to give me a better opportunity to study \ns 2)hysique. 
In person he was tall, lean, and lantern-jawed, having 
what might be termed "a vegetable countenance," 
with carroty hair, radish cheeks, and a turn-iip nose. 
He was dressed in a bran-new suit of linsey-woolsey, 
with a hat considerably the worse for wear, which had 
once evidently been black, but was now pretty nearly 
dun. One side of his face appeared to be swollen, the 
cause of which was soon revealed; his huge nether- 
jaw relaxed, his mouth opened, and a large quid of 
tobacco was dropped on the floor, where it remained 
a steaming mass of juice-extracted vegetation — an 
oasis in the desert waste surrounding it. Then his 
deep pockets were fathomed, and a huge plug of 
" Virginia pig- tail" was inserted between his capacious 
jaws. After considerable twisting and wrenching, 
accompanied by mirth-moving contortions of counte- 
nance, he succeeded in sundering a fragment, which 
he ■■ rolled as a sweet morsel under his tongue." 
Turning partly around and elevating his feet, he sat 
for some time quietly chewing his cud, but soon 
changed his position, and began to exhibit unmistaka- 
ble symptonis of ur^easirjess. He kept hitching up 



262 Nashville. 

bis trowsers, moving about in his seat, and looked the 
very picture of "Impatience sitting on a hemlock 
board and chewing the bitter cud of discontent." His 
eyes wandered from one person to another, as if there 
were something on his mind — something that he 
wished to say. My sympathies became excited, and 
I was about to address him, when he "broke the ice," 
and let in upon us a stream of volubility almost over- 
whelming. Being the nearest to him, I had to brave 
the force of the deluge ; I shuddered at each succes- 
sive douche, but was compelled to let the torrent flow 
on, without making any effort to check its impetuo- 
sity, merely endeavoring to divert it into some other 
channel. 

I have a great dislike to talking in the cars, when 
they are in motion, as the effort to raise m}'' voice 
above the din and noise of the rattling train seriously 
affects my throat; but there was no way of dodging 
the tongue-missiles of this loquacious individual. If 
he had talked without requiring an answer, I would 
not have cared ; but he opened the conversation, as 
you would an oyster, by the introduction of the inqui- 
sitorial knife. Listen to him for a moment : 



Cracker Jargon. 263 

" Wal, stranger, this ere's dusty trav'ling!" 

" Yes," I replied. 

" You don't live in these ere parts, I reckon ?" 

"No!" 

" Whar' may you be from ?" 

" Cuba." 

" What! that are island of Cuby ! How's the cot- 
ton crop down thar' ?" 

" I believe that cotton is not one of the products of 
that island," I replied. 

" What ! not raise cotton ? Make shingles I spose I" 

" No, I think not !" 

" Lots of niggers thar' I dare say ! and plenty of 
tobaccy tew ! How many niggers dew yew own ?" 

" I am not the owner of any." 

" Wal ! that's curious, not to own no niggers ! per- 
haps you hires 'em, dew yew ?" 

Being anxious to change the conversation, which 
was becoming almost too familiar, I did not heed his 
last remark, but inquired what business he was 
engaged in. Stretching his long, ostrich-like neck 
over the side of the seat, he ejected from his mouth 
a superfluous quantity of tobacco juice ; then leaning 



264 Nashville. 

over towards me, in a sort of half-confiding tone 
replied, " Wal 1 Mister, I'm in the shingle business, 
I am. Now there is lots of ways of gettin' a livin' 
in this ere world ; some folks by keepin' niggers and 
raisin' cotton ; some by sellin' traps and swappin' 
bosses ; some by lumberin' and farmin'. Now you 
see I've had a smart chance at most of these busi- 
nesses, besides tendin' saw-mill and boatin', but this 
ere shingle business beats 'em all." 

"But," said I, "do you find this business profit- 
able?" 

" Wal, not particularly so, but I kinder manage to 
get enough grub for the old woman and children, and 
that's about all we orter expect in this ere world." 
" How large a family have you?" I asked. 
" Wal, let's see, there's the old woman and four gals 
and tew boys to home, besides Joe and Silas who's 
away down the 'Hooche a lumberin'." 

How much longer he would have edified me with 
his cracker jargon I am unable to say, had he not, on 
turning his head to expectorate, caught sight of an 
acquaintance in the forward part of the car. Making 
his way in that direction he grasped the man by the 



Arrival at Atlanta. 265 

liand, and exclaimed in a voice loud enough to be 
heard by all around him : — 

" How do yu dew, Square ? I'm mitey glad tu see 
yu; been down to the plantation I reckon ? Wal, I 
c?e-clare if this ere aint Molly as. I live ! How she's 
growed! I say, Square, this ere's a smart gall of 
yourn, and looks o?i commonly like her ma." 

He continued to hold forth in this strain until he 
arrived at his place of debarkation ; when throwing 
his saddle-bags over his shoulder, and shaking his 
friend's hand, he exclaimed : 

" Now, Square, when yu come down tu our district, 
come rite to my cabin, plenty of hog and hominy, 
and the old woman will be mitey glad tu see yu." 

This picture is drawn from life, and those who know 
the original will acknowledge the correctness of the 
delineation. 

About sunset we reached Atlanta, a town of some 
importance from its being a market and place of 
transhipment for most of the cotton and other articles 
of export, raised in several of the adjoining counties. 
Two or three railroads intersect there, which makes 
it a place of considerable bustle and activity. I was 



266 Nashville. 

recommended by a gentleman on the cars to the 
" Trout House," which flivorably impressed me with 
its appetizing name. It proved to be a large unpainted 
brick building, four stories high, and of not very pre- 
possessing exterior. The interior was cold, cheerless, 
and inhospitable, and I began to think that its name 
was its only attraction. The porter who took charge 
of my luggage was evidently the major-domo of the 
establishment, for he was the only person visible 
while I was engaged in registering my name and 
selecting a room for the night. 

Calling for a glass of iced-water, I was told that 
there was none in the house, but if I would pay for 
it, they would send out and get some for me. I 
thought this was rather cool treatment, but supposing 
it to be one of the customs of the countr}^, I gave the 
porter a quarter, and in about an hour a small pitcher 
of ice, but no change, was brought to my room in 
the fourth story. 

This world, or the inhabitants thereof, are said to 
be composed of two antagonistic classes — " victims 
and victimizers." I certainly shall be at no loss here- 
after to decide to which class / belonoc. But, as 



Rival Waiters. 267 

Iludibras says there is as " great pleasure in being 
cheated as to cheat," I shall have my full share of 
this "world's pleasures and beatitudes. 

When I came down to tea, the table was nearly 
deserted ; but from the soiled condition of the cloth, 
and the refuse eatables scattered around, I judged that 
quite a number of hungry bipeds had preceded me. 
When seated, a full-blooded African, with a foce as 
black as the ace of spades, and a mouth stretching 
from ear to ear, came up and wanted to know " what 
massa would be helped to." Before I could reply, 
a spruce-looking mulatto, who evidently imagined 
that he saw a shining quarter in the perspective, 
approached me and bowing very obsequiously, said, 
" I will take the gentleman's order !" 

"No, you doant," said he with the open counte- 
nance, " I'm gwine to wait on de gemman myself," 
and he reached out his hand to take my plate. I 
ended the controvers}'- by waving off the interloper, 
and directed the sable individual to bring me a plate 
of dry toast with a cup of black tea. 

"Yaw! yaw! dat I will, massa!" and he started 
for the kitchen as fast as his lagging heels would 



268 Nashville. 

• 
allow him, those elongated appendages not being able 

to keep within two or three feet of his advancing head 

and shoulders. He returned in a few moments almost 

out of breath, the perspiration standing in large drops 

on his ebony forehead, from his efforts to toast my 

bread over a hot coal-fire. His first salutation was : 

" Dat are free ni2;2;er 'marines I don't know how 
to wait on the white folks. Him feels mitey grand 
since he got free papers ! But I'll let him know dat 
he's no better dan me no how." He wiped his face 
with his coat-sleeve, and in his anxiety to please, 
placed before me pepper, mustard, salt, and other con- 
diments which I did not require, and neglected to 
pass the butter, and the necessary ingredients for my 
tea. When I asked for the latter, he upset the sugar- 
bowl in his haste to reach it, and filled my cup to 
overflowing with milk before I could prevent it. At 
last I was obliged to send him to the kitchen for 
something I did not want, to get rid of his well mean- 
ing but awkward attempts to serve me. 

On examining the edibles before me, I found that 
my heedless waiter had mistaken my order, and 
instead of dry toast and black tea, had brought me 



Chattanooga. 269 

hldck toast and dry tea, for the one was black as 
Sambo himself, and the other tasted more like a decoc- 
tion of dried herbs than of savory oolong. But find- 
ing a plate of stale bread within my reach, I made 
a hasty though not luxurious meal — being desirous 
to get away from the table before the return of my 
officious waiter. 

Not finding any late papers in the hotel, or any- 
thing to interest me within doors, I strolled through 
some of the principal streets in the vicinity ; observed 
nothing worthy of note, but enough, however, to con- 
vince me that Atlanta was the most unattractive place 
that I had seen since leaving Cuba. About nine 
o'clock " a solitary wayfarer" — to use the language of 
a popular novelist, " might have been seen wending 
his weary way" up three flights of stairs to his quiet 
room in the "upper regions." Here he remained in 
close communion with Morpheus until the first train 
left in the morning, when he took his departure, hav- 
ing acquired, during his brief sojourn, a little more 
knowledge of Southern manners and customs. 

My next stopping-place was Chattanooga, a small 
inland town within the limits of Tennessee, where I 



270 Nashville. 

remamed one night and the greater part of a day ; 
from necessity, however, not from choice, as the cars 
were detained there that length of time. The pas- 
sengers were quite indignant at the apparently unne- 
cessary delay. It was intimated that the railroad com- 
pany had a pecuniary interest in the badly -kept hotel 
at the station ; otherwise a score or two of impatient 
travellers would not be so often delayed there, and 
subjected to such poor fare and indifferent accommo- 
dations. I would rather have spent the night on n 
rail than in a seven-by-nine room, on a bed of straw, 
between sheets not as immaculate as the driven snow. 
But I passed the ordeal unscathed, and reached this 
city in safety. While at Chattanooga, I was obliged 
to remain in the hotel most of the time, on account 
of a severe rain storm, and as there were no books or 
papers accessible, I amused myself with watching the 
crowd of " natives" who thronged the bar-room, and 
in listening to their ludicrous provincialisms. They 
would come in wet as drowned rats, but immediately 
complain of being dry^ and forthwith proceed to 
"imbibe." The smiling proprietor stood behind the 
counter in his shirt sleeves, engaged in preparing a 



Description of the City. 271 

suspicious combination of fluid commodities with 
"mint fixings," and dispensing it with alacrity to the 
thirsty crowd who were impatiently awaiting their 
turn at " the straw," which they sucked with apparent 
relish. It has been said that " straws show which 
way the wind blows," but in this instance they plainly 
indicated the way the streams flowed. * * * 

Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, is pleasantly 
situated on the Cumberland Kiver, and has a popula- 
tion of about twenty-five thousand. This stream 
rises in the south-eastern part of Kentuckj^, and after 
making a bend into this State, and pursuing its ellipti- 
cal course for nearly two hundred miles, it runs north, 
into western Kentucky, and empties into the Ohio 
Kiver, a short distance from its confluence with " the 
Father of Waters." The chief attraction of this city 
is its picturesque and commanding situation, and the 
beauty and diversity of the surrounding scenery. It 
is mostly built upon a solid rock a hundred feet or 
more above the bed of the river, and, on account of 
its elevated and healthful location, has become a popu- 
lar resort during the summer, for families living in 
the low and less salubrious places in the vicinity. 



272 Nashville. 

Nashville contains many fine private residences, 
but the " lion" of the city, as well as of the state, is 
the elegant capitol now in process of erection. It is 
built of Tennessee marble, a species of limestone 
susceptible of a beautiful polish, which was found in 
that vicinity. The expense of this structure, when 
completed, will be not flir from one million of dollars, 
notwithstanding the first cost of the stone was but 
nominal, and it was quarried and worked by convicts 
from the State Prison. It stands upon the highest 
eminence in the city, nearly two hundred feet above 
the river, and is a conspicuous mark for the eye for 
leagues around. This edifice was designed by a 
Philadelphia architect named Strickland, who died 
about two years ago, and by a special permit his 
remains were entombed in a vault beneath the build' 
ing. His son, also an architect, is now engaged in 
completing the work. In one of the pleasantest 
streets of the city is the mansion of the late President 
Polk, where his widow now resides. On the lawn in 
front of the house is a monument erected by Mrs. 
Polk to the memory of her statesman-husband, con- 
taining a simple and appropriate inscription. 



Southern Hospitality. 273 

This city is celebrated for its beautiful women, but 
as I only had an opportunity to see them in church 
and in their carriages, at a distance, I cannot speak 
intelligently on the subject ; for distance is supposed 
to " lend enchantment" to animate as well as inani- 
mate objects. I was much pleased with the bright 
happy faces of a cavalcade of school'girls, who passed 
me one day in the outskirts of the city. They were 
all quite pretty, becomingly attired, and rode with 
ease and elegance. 

The country, for leagues around Nashville, is pictur- 
esque and beautiful, pleasantly diversified with hill 
and dale, with cultivated fields, green pastures, and 
belts of woodland. It is an opulent district, highly 
cultivated, and abounding in extensive plantations, 
with fine old mansions, where tlie wealthy planters 
live more like noblemen than simple farmers. 

The inhabitants of the South, particularly the 
planters of affluence, are celebrated for their hospi- 
tality and courtesy to strangers. It is a part of their 
religion " to take in strangers," and entertain them 
at their homes and firesides. Any one having just 

claims to respectability is cordially welcomed by 

12 



274 Nashville. 

them, and horses, carriages, and servants are placed at 
his command. He is invited to join in all the social 
gatherings in the neighborhood, and is expected to 
make himself at home in every sense of the word. 
This is a charming feature of Southern society, and 
an agreeable contrast to the ungenial and indifferent 
manner with which strangers are often treated at the 
North. It is true, that strangers, with us, are " taken 
in," but not always in the scriptural sense ; neither 
are they often the recipients of that genuine, unselfish 
hospitality which is so universal among the planters 
and wealthy citizens of the South. I speak some- 
what from experience, having in several instances, 
during my southern travels, received civilities and 
personal attentions such as would not have been 
bestowed on a stranger at the North. 



* * * 



I 



LETTER XVIII. 

"Mammoth Cave Hotel,"* Ky., May, 1856. 

The long cherislied desire of my life is realized. 
I have seen tlie Mammoth Cave, the eighth wonder of 
the world, and by many considered more wonderful 
than all the others combined, I have traversed its ma- 
jestic avenues, threaded its tortuous paths, climbed its 
precipitous heights, peered into its Tartarean depths, 
navigated its Stygian waters, drunk from its Crystal 
fountains, ascended its Rocky Mountains, and gazed 
on its varied scenes with conflicting emotions. I was 
awed by its grandeur, charmed by its sublimity, fasci- 
nated by its beauty, and astonished at its immensity. 

* Some portions of the following letter were published in a news- 
paper at the time when it was written. In its revised and enlarged 
form, as here presented, the autlior hopes that he lias succeeded in 
depicting the most striking features of the Manimotli Cave. 



276 Mammoth Cave. 

But to particulars. I left Nashville in company 
with a Mr, L., from New York, an elderly gentleman 
of wealth and education, whose acquaintance I made 
in Havana. We reached " Bell's Tavern" the next 
night, by stage. This has been " a place of enter- 
tainment for man and beast" for more than fifty 
years, and is intimately associated with the Mammoth 
Cave, being but about eight miles distant from it. 
Having partaken of an early breakfast the next 
morning, we started for the cave in an old-fashioned 
Kentucky "carry-all" without springs, and after 
riding for two hours over the worst road imaginable, 
reached our place of destination, pretty effectually 
shaken up. We were the only passengers for the 
cave, it being too early in the season for a great 
influx of visitors. 

The " Cave Hotel" is a large, irregular, rambling 
sort of building, somewhat out of repair, and not 
particularly attractive in its appearance, but workmen 
are engaged in rejuvenating it for the coming season, 
when it will appear in its new annual suit of paint 
and garniture. The proprietor being absent when we 
arrived, we were obliged to wait his return before we 



I 



Its Vast Magnitude. 277 

could obtain rooms, and in the interval made the 
acquaintance of a young Scotchman named Frazer, 
who had arrived a few hours before us, and was wait- 
ing for an opportunity to join some party going into 
the cave. "We found him an agreeable, well informed 
young man, and apparently familiar with most of 
the great natural curiosities of Europe. He had come 
to this country to see some of our celebrities, more 
especially to visit the Mammoth Cave, whose fame, 
it appears, is even greater in the Old World than in 
the New. 

I am informed that the original owner of the cave, 
or rather of a few acres surrounding the entrance, 
went abroad without having explored it. While in 
Europe, so much interest was manifested in this 
wonderful natural curiosity, and he heard such extra- 
vagant accounts from persons who had visited it, that 
immediately on his return he purchased seventeen 
hundred acres more, supposing that it would cover 
the whole extent of the cave. But from recent 
explorations, it is evident that it extends under many 
of the farms in the vicinity, whose owners may not 
be aware that the Nobility of Europe, as well as the 



278 Mammoth Cave, 

noble men of America, have traversed their domains 
" without leave or license." 

This cave is said to contain "two hundred and 
twenty-six avenues, forty-seven domes, eight cataracts, 
twenty-three pits, besides numerous rivers;" the 
aggregate length of all the different avenues, both 
direct and lateral, is estimated at three hundred miles. 
It is, in fact, a small subterranean state of itself, which 
might almost claim to be admitted separately into the 
Union, if it had any population save " rats, bats, and 
eyeless fish," to legislate and enjoy the rights of suf- 
frage. I am not sure, however, but it can take care 
of itself, having done so from time immemorial, 
which is more than all states can say ! And I think 
I can show that the legislative, executive, and judi- 
ciary departments of this embryo state can be filled 
from among its own population. What is more neces- 
sary to successful legislation, than age, experience, wis- 
dom, and sagacity ? "As old as a rat," showing that 
they have age ; " As loise as a rat," proving that they 
possess wisdom ; and " as cunning as a rat," evincing 
their sagacity ; are expressions familiar to us all. 
And how can the judiciary department be better 



Its Natural History. 279 

filled than by eyeless fisli ? Slippery and supple in 
their natures, they can wriggle themselves deeper into 
the intricate interstices of the law than most of its 
modern disciples ; and such is their affinity for shiners 
that they can decoy them from their clients' pockets 
ad libitum, which is one of the most important requi- 
sites in law, according to the popular interpretation 
of Blackstone. And besides, being hlind, they are 
eminently qualified to administer justice with impar- 
tiality. As for the bats, their usefulness is manifold. 
They also will make successful lawyers. Being pro- 
tean in their forms, they can change to suit the exi- 
gencies of the occasion, or whenever their interests 
demand it ; and if necessary, can act as counsel to both 
parties in a suit, being hird to one, and animal to the 
other. Then again, they will make invaluable sol- 
diers, forming in themselves a hat-tery that can never 
be silenced ; and when defending a fortification, will 
not leave the walls during daylight, and will be 
occupied the entire night in flying from place to 
place, aiding and encouraging one another. Now I 
hope that our " Uncle Samuel" will give that little 
" bone of contention," Kansas, a toss over the Rocky 



28o Mammoth Cave. 

Mountains, and take into bis family this underground 
territory with its interesting population, and I will 
wager a leaden ducat that the whole confederacy will 
be improved by the annexation. But a truce to this 
nonsense. 

After having secured rooms, our first inquiry was 
for Stephen the celebrated guide, who is so closely 
identified with the cave and its associations, having 
been employed in that capacity for nineteen years. 
He was the first to explore many of its interminable 
labyrinths, and to open to the world its unrevealed 
wonders. We were disappointed to find that he had 
gone into the cave with a party early that morning, 
and would not be back until night. Stephen is almost 
as much of a celebrity as the cave itself, and I had 
set my heart on having him for our guide ; for with- 
out his agreeable companionship, the cave to me 
'would be divested of many of its attractions. But 
Mat, the next best guide, was not engaged, and we 
secured his services. About an hour was occupied 
in preparing lamps, changing our dresses, and other 
preliminaries. When completed, our part}', consist- 
ing of three persons besides the guide, left the house. 



Equipments for the Journey. 281 

and after going down a winding path for about two 
hundred yards, reached the mouth of the cave. We 
were quite fantastically dressed, in " monkey jackets" 
of green and yellow flannel, trowsers of the same 
material, stuffed caps, heavy boots, a Mont Blanc staff 
(a long stick sharpened at the end), and each of us 
carrying a swinging lamp, so constructed that it could 
not be broken or easily extinguished. Mat carried 
two lamps, a canteen of oil slung on his shoulder, 
a basket containing our dinner, and a long black 
bottle, contents unknown, but not unsuspected. His 
pockets were filled with matches, Bengal lights, medi- 
cated paper, and other indispensable articles. 

After descending a flight of rudely constructed 
stone steps for about thirty feet, we found ourselves 
within the mouth of the cave. Branches of trees, 
roots, and creeping vines overhung the entrance, 
imparting to it a wild and peculiarly picturesque 
appearance. A current of cold air greeted us as we 
entered, but, after advancing a few rods, we were 
sufficiently warm. The temperature of this cave is 
uniform throughout, never varying more than one 

degree from fifty-nine Fahrenheit, during summer or 

12* 



282 Mammoth Cave. 

winter. The air is also remarkably pure, and so very 
bracing, that a person in ordinary health can walk 
a long distance without fatigue. Combustion is per- 
fect in all parts of the cave, even in the deepest pits 
and most confined places ; and it is said that nothing 
has ever been found here in a decomposed state. 
Some affirm that decomposition cannot take place 
where the temperature is unvarying, and the air free 
from humidity. 

In support of this theory, it is related that Mr. 
Croghan, the owner of the cave, when exploring a 
new avenue a few years ago, discovered a young- 
child lying on the ground apparently asleep. It was 
cold to the touch, yet he could hardly believe that 
life was extinct, so blooming were its cheeks, and so 
life-like the expression of its countenance. He had it 
removed to the hotel, and made every effort to dis- 
cover its paternity, supposing that it belonged to some 
poor femily in the vicinity. But imagine his asto- 
nishment, when visiting the body the next morning, 
to find nothing left but ashes. It had probably been 
entombed for years. * * * * 

Our guide having lighted the lamps and distributed 



Scene in the Rotunda. 283 

them among our party, we followed him througli 
" The Narrows" down a gradual descent, and in a few 
moments emerged into the vestibule or antechamber 
of the cave. Most of the places of interest here are 
named from some incident in their history, or from 
the object or place to which they bear a real or ima- 
giijar}^ resemblance. This is called the Rotunda, and 
is said to be one hundred and sixty feet below the 
surface of the earth, and nearly under the hotel. 

Here our guide disappeared with the lamps, and 
we were plunged suddenly into darkness. The tran- 
sition was so great, that it seemed as if all the sable 
elements were mixed together and intensified. It was 
horribly, awfully dark. 

"As dark as \vas chaos, crc the infant sun 
Was rolled together, or liad tried his beams 
Athwart the glooui profoiuid," 

Soon a soft mellow light was reflected in the distance, 
which radiated and diffused itself over the huge grey 
w^alls above and around us. It was a scenic display, 
for which we were indebted to our guide and a Bengal 
light. AVe were in a room nearly two hundred feet 



284 Mammoth Cave. 

in diameter and about sixty feet higU ; tlie roof of 
which is flat, and composed of a single rock, without 
any discernible seam or interruption, save at the 
edges. The whole is without a pillar or support of 
any kind — a wonderful triumph of the Mighty Archi- 
tect and Builder. 

Here are to be seen the remains of vats and furna- 
ces used in the manufacture of saltpetre, which nearly 
half a century ago was taken from this cave in large 
quantities. Heaps of nitrous earth and ashes are 
scattered about, and the impression of wheels and the 
track of oxen are as distinctly visible as if made but 
a few days since. 

After passing the Great Bend, where the avenue 
makes almost an acute angle, we came to a place 
designated as " The Sick Chamber." Here are to be 
seen two or three dilapidated stone huts, which were 
erected several years ago as a kind of hospital for 
consumptives. The pure air of the cave, and its 
exemption from atmospheric changes, suggested the 
idea of its becoming a hibernating place for pulmonic 
invalids, and several were induced to try the experi- 
ment. But the eternal darkness and gloom, together 



The Grand Gallery. 285 

with the absence of enlivening society and other 
healthful influences, prevented a cure being effected. 
The last patient having persevered for more than a 
year without any apparent benefit, during which time 
two or three of his companions died, the scheme was 
abandoned, and the huts have remained ever since 
untenanted. 

Two passages diverge from this mammoth chamber. 
One is called the Great Bat Eoom, from the quantities 
of bats to be seen upon its walls and ceiling — looking 
from below like black incrustations, so closely are 
they packed together. The other is known as the 
Grand Gallery ; it is five miles long, from fifty to one 
hundred feet wide, averages about fifty feet in height, 
and is said to be the most extensive subterranean 
avenue in the known world. The next place of inte- 
rest is the Church, an immense room, sixty feet high, 
over one hundred feet in diameter, and capable of 
accommodating a congregation of several thousand. 
A large rock projects on one side, forming an imposing 
pulpit, while in the rear is a niche of suJBicient capa- 
city to hold an organ and a respectable-sized choir. 
Divine service has been held here a number of times 



286 Mammoth Cave. 

to large audiences. The shape and formation of this 
underground sanctuary are said to be in accordance 
with acoustic principles, and a voice of ordinary capa- 
city will fill the room and be heard distinctly in the 
remotest part. Here our guide ignited a piece of medi- 
cated paper, which diffused a soft, mellow effulgence 
• — a sort of "dim, religious light" over the room, 
adding to its solemnity, and leaving our minds 
more deeply impressed with its holy beauty and 
sublimity. 

In contradistinction, a few hundred yards distant is 
the Ball Eoom, so called from its adaptation to the 
Terpsichorean art, and where the " poetry of motion" 
can be 'perpetrated without annoyance to the " upper ten 
thousand," who repudiate that species of amusement. 
It is nearly two hundred feet in diameter, and of cor- 
responding height. A large natural orchestra pro- 
jects at one end, capable of holding one hundred 
musicians ; and the back recedes, forming a sightly 
gallery for spectators. 

Not very far fi'om this room is a large isolated rock 
standing upon the ground, called the Giant's Coffin, 
from its resemblance to the last tenement ol humanity. 



The Labyrinth. 287 

It is fifty-seven feet long, and in every way shaped 
like a coffin. Directly above it on the ceiling is a 
black incrustation of gypsum resembling an ant-eater 
on a log, which the superstitious consider as ominous. 
Back of this is a hole in the wall leading to a low 
room about one hundred feet square, called the 
"Wooden Bowl, from its fancied resemblance in shape 
to that article of domestic utility. 

We now go down " the Steeps of Time," by a 
rapid descent of about fifty feet, to the Deserted 
Chambers, a succession of gloomy-looking apartments, 
which are correctly named. The ground about here 
is full of fearful-looking chasms and pits, of which 
we are constantly warned by our guide. Near one 
of the largest of these openings, which is fearfully 
deep, is constantly heard the sound of an invisible 
waterfall. 

We descended by a long ladder into the Labyrinth, 
so called on account of its numerous intricate pas- 
sages and bewildering mazes, which we threaded in 
safety, although not without slightly endangering our 
vision, having to look to " the right and left oblique," 
as it were, simultaneously. Some of these passages 



288 Mammoth Cave. 

were so irregular and complex in their structure that 
it would require an able mathematician to elucidate 
them. Its continuity of obtuse, acute, and right 
I angles ; its crooked, curved, mixed, concave, and con- 

vex lines, would puzzle a student in geometry, and 
convince him that there are more things below the 
earth " than are dreamt of in his philosophy." 

The next place of interest is Goran's Dome, by 
many considered the greatest curiosity in the cave. 
Our guide led us to an opening in the wall of two or 
three feet in diameter, and then disappeared with our 
lamps. Soon a faint straggling light appeared from 
within this opening, which rapidly increased until 
the whole interior was illuminated. We each in our 
turn looked within. A huge yawning chasm was 
above and below, so high that the top was scarcely 
visible, so deep that the eye could not fathom it. The 
height and depth are estimated at three hundred feet, 
and the opening where we stood was about midway 
between the top and bottom. It is not the magnitude 
alone of this vast cavernous Temple, which constitutes 
its chief attraction; its peculiar formation, its archi- 
tectural completeness, and the uniqueness of its inte- 



The Bottomless Pit. 289 

rior decorations, are wonderful, and cannot be correctly 
described or delineated. The inner walls are honey- 
combed and covered with a creamy white incrustation. 
The dome above is conical in shape, and looks not 
unlike an immense canopy lined with richly embossed 
velvet (a beautiful specimen of Nature's handiwork) 
which descends in voluminous folds — draping the 
whole interior. 

We retrace our steps to the Labyrinth, and con- 
tinue to go down, down, down, until we stand upon 
the very brink of the Bottomless Pit — a frightful- 
looking abyss, o£ incredible depth. A sheet of rhedi- 
cated paper is lighted and thrown down, which is 
lost to sight long before it is extinguished ; the sul- 
phurous fumes, as they ascend, are strongly suggestive 
of — you know what ! 

This is two miles from the mouth of the cave, and 
was once supposed to be the end of all cavities in that 
direction. But a gentleman, a few years ago, con- 
ceived the idea that there were other openings beyond. 
With the aid of the adventurous Stephen, he threw 
a ladder over the cliasm, some twenty feet, and a new 
field was opened for exploration, A substantial 



290 Mammoth Cave. 

bridge is now erected liere, wbicli is crossed in perfect 
safety. 

A short walk brings us to an opening in the ground^ 
large enougli to admit one person at a time, over 
which is suspended an immense rock of several tons 
weight, resting on a corner, looking as if the least jar 
would cause it to descend and close the entrance for 
ever. This is called the Scotchman's Trap, and is so 
fearful a place that many visitors, rather than enter 
it, will forego the pleasure of viewing the wonders 
which lie beyond. We go down, and soon find our- 
selves in the midst of huge rocks, over which we 
climb, long ladders which we descend, and narrow 
places which we squeeze through, until we come to 
the -far-famed " Winding Way," or Fat Man's Misery, 
as it is facetiously^ termed, being a zigzag path about 
seven feet high, and averaging but eighteen inches in 
width, for a distance of three hundred and fifteen feet 
through a solid rock. This passage was undoubtedly 
formed by the gradual attrition of water, as its sides 
are as smooth and lustrous as a water-worn pebble. 

This wonderful freak of Nature is a source of great 
merriment to the visitors, especially if there happen 



Fat Man's Misery. 291 

to be any Falstaffs among them, for it is next to 
impossible for a very fleshy person to get through ; 
and several, who, with more curiosity than discretion, 
made the attempt, were with difliculty extricated. 
Some, who succeed in forcing their way through, _ 
cannot be induced to break their fast while on the 
other side, lest their increased diameter should prevent 

their safe return. My friend Mr. L , being a 

small man, glided through this tortuous channel like 
an eel ; while the great " broth of a boy" from Edin- 
burgh, being full six feet in his stockings, and of goodly 
proportions, " puffed and blowed like a fresh- water 
porpoise," and by the time he reached a breathing- 
place had become longitudinally more^ and latitudi- 
nall_^ke55 by the severe lateral pressure. Being nei- 
ther great nor small, I was fortunate enough to reach 
the end ; but not without sundry squeezes and divers 
affectionate embraces from the cold unyielding walls 
which encompassed me. But the end was not yet. 
We had another ordeal to pass through, which to me 
was much more disagreeable. It was the Valley of 
Humility — a kind of prospective Purgatorj-, where 
the ceiling was less than four feet from the ground. 



292 Mammoth Cave. 

Here we were obliged to grovel in tlie dust, or to 
walk with horizontal spines, with head and back in 
constant danger of collision with the rough rock 
above. Oh, how I longed to " take off my head and 
carry it under my arm," like some of the personages 
who figure in ghost stories. It was labor to the 
head as well as to the back-bone, and we all uttered 
spontaneous exclamations of delight when we reached 
Belief Hall. 

The next place of interest is the Bacon Chamber, 
where the low ceiling is covered with white oblong 
stalactites, being a very good imitation of hams ready 
lagged and whiteiuashed ; and a cavity is shown in the 
centre, as " a kettle to boil them in." A little further 
on is Kiver Hall, where the river has been kn^n to 
rise fifty-seven feet above low water. We descended 
gradually for a long distance ; the. soil, a tenacious 
clay, is moist and slippery, the effects of a recent 
inundation. At the foot of this hill is a yawning 
abyss, known as the Dead Sea, the waters of which 
are said to be twenty-five feet deep at the lowest tide. 
A lighted paper is thrown down upon a broad, black 
body of water, eighty feet below — a shuddering, fear- 



Dinner and its Accompaniments/ 293 

ful place to look into — its Tartarean depths, its name, 
and the associations connected with it, all combining to 
impress us with sensations not easily to be shaken off. 
Far below us in the darkness and gloom is the river 
Styx. A rock is hurled into the Erehean space — a 
low, gurgling sound is heard — then all is still, and a 
death-like silence prevails. We prepared to descend, 
but our aged friend, through fear or fatigue, declined 
going any further, and as we could not leave him 
behind, we were obliged to return. I was not sorry 
that it so happened, for I was particularly desirous of 
having Stephen the Charon to ferry us over the Styx, 
and to hear the tones of his rich barytone voice, 
while passing the Echo River, on our voyage down 
the Lethe. We decided to return by the way of the 
Gothic Avenue, and to explore that portion of the 
cave, which would about use up the day. It was 
now past meridian, and having breakfasted at an 
unusually early hour, our stomachs began to remon- 
strate against so long a fast. We therefore got up an 
impromptu meeting, and " resolved unanimously" 
that it was time for dnmer. Our guide spread a col- 
lation upon a rock, around which we assembled. The 



294 " * Mammoth Cave. 

basket containing the mysterious bottle, with its nose 
provokinglj in sight, as if to tempt us to a more 
intimate acquaintance, was placed a little distance 
from us, but the cold chicken was equally as tempting 
and much more available, hemg loithin reach. The 
three miles of locomotion, the acrobatic feats I had 
involuntarily performed, besides occasionally prac- 
tising in "ground and lofty tumhling^'''' had given me 
some symptoms of fatigue, as well as an appetite ; so 
I concluded first to try the chicken and its accom- 
paniments, and if they failed to sustain me, then I 
would employ Mat as a "medium" to exorcise the 
spirits from the depths of that long, black, sepulchral- 
looking bottle. 

Dinner being over, the fragments gathered toge- 
ther, the "spirits" in their proper 'place^ and the empty 
bottle filled with surplus enthusiasm, to be uncorked 
when wanted, we began retracing our steps to the 
beginning of new wonders. 

It is not my intention to give a detailed account of 
all the various avenues, halls, domes, and other won- 
ders which I have seen ; it would fill a volume, and 
exhaust my vocabulary. I shall only attempt to de- 



A General View. 295 

scribe a few of the most imposing and attractive 
features of the Cave, which is no vast charnel-house, 
impure, un architectural, and commonplace, but a 
succession of splendid streets, domes, and arches, all 
buried deep within the earth, far from the din and 
strife of active life, where the lightning is never seen, 
thunder never heard, and the petty convulsions of 
nature never felt. It is an empire in ruins ; a city- 
sepulchred by mountains, its half buried palaces, 
halls, and domes, still revealed and visible in their full 
architectural beauty ; its cornices, its galleries, its 
vaulted ceilings, "wonderfully symmetrical and mys- 
teriously upheld." And then, the diversity of its 
scenery, the variety of its formations, its mountains, 
rivers, cataracts, its interminable labyrinths, its unfa- 
thomable abysses, its domes entombed, its palaces in 
ruins, all combine to make it one of the grandest, 
most sublime, and beautiful specimens of the handi- 
work of the Great Architect — Him 

" Whose breath can still the winds, 



Uncloud the sun, charm down the swelling sea, 
And stop the floods of Heaven." 



296 Mammoth Cave. 

The Gothic Avenue is two miles long, from thirty 
to forty feet wide, and of a corresponding height. It 
received its name from the curiously arched ceiling, 
which bears a rude resemblance to Gothic architec- 
ture. Its walls are covered w4th hanging stalactites, 
some of which are white and lustrous like Parian 
marble ; others as clear and transparent as crystal. 
Many of these crystallizations depend in huge masses 
from the ceilings, and are of such peculiar brilliancy, 
that they might, at a distance, be mistaken for 
immense chandeliers covered with diamonds. These 
brilliant incrustations glittered and coruscated in 
the light of our uplifted torches, as we waved them 
to and fro beneath the gem-studded canopy. 

In this vicinity, are many novel and interesting 
places, whose peculiar nomenclature is derived from 
Biography, History sacred and profane. Zoology, 
Mythology, and the imagination. I visited the Haunted 
Chamber, stood for a while beneath Annetti's Dome, 
drank from the Crystal Pool, leaned upon Napoleon's 
Breast-work, gathered cinders from Yulcan's Forge, 
saw the Elephant's Head, tweaked St. Anthony's 
Nose, and becoming weary, rested myself in the 



The Gothic Chapel. 297 

Devil's arm-chair. The seat dedicated to his Satanic 
Majesty is a stalagmitic formation, the top of which 
is sufficiently depressed to afford a comfortable rest- 
ing-place for the visitor. But I was so dull or 
unimaginative, as not to be able to discover in it any 
particular resemblance to an arm-chair. 

The principal attraction of this avenue is the 
Gothic Chapel, which is of such unique formation, 
and so peculiar and elaborate in its ornamentation, 
as to excite wonder and admiration in the beholder. 
It is a sort of Gothic Temple, elliptical in shape, and 
some fifty by eighty feet in diameter. The lofty 
ceiling is supported by stalagmite columns, and rib- 
bed and bracketed with stalactites. These columns 
expand into majestic arches as they approach the 
ceiling, where they unite with the stalactical drapery 
from above, which descends in massive folds, giving 
to the whole interior a grand and imposing appear- 
ance. Our guide so arranged the lights as to cause 
their reflections to fall upon the ceiling and the sup- 
porting columns, which so increases the effect, that 
the spectator can almost imagine himself to be gazing 

upon the interior of some vast Cathedral or Gothic 

13 



298 Mammoth Cave. 

Temple of antiquity. Before leaving this avenue, 
we visited the Register Eoom, but did not leave our 
"handwriting on the wall," not being ambitious of 
that kind of immortality. The ceiling here is but 
ten or twelve feet high, and would be as smooth and 
white as plaster of Paris, were it not that many 
visitors, to gratify a low, morbid vanity, trace their 
names in vile lamp-smoke ; thus blackening and dis- 
figuring one of the most chaste and beautiful apart- 
ments in this vast Temple of Nature. 

The beauty of many parts of this cave has been 
marred by visitors bi-eaking off and. carrj'ing away 
the most beautiful stalactites and other formations, 
which can never be repLaccd. This wanton vandal- 
ism is unpardonable, from the fiict, that tlu; ground 
in many places is covered with beautiful specimens 
which have fallen from above, and may be had for 
the picking up. In one of the small grottoes, cele- 
br^ed for the beauty of its dog-tooth spar, a few 
years ago, a creature wearing the semblance of huma- 
nit}^, broke off and carried away one of the largest 
and most beautiful of these crystallizations. Not 
content with this desecration, he iiiserilicd Ids name 



The Star Chamber. 299 

on tlic lra2:mcnt rcmaininij, not omittino; liis uncle- 
served title of " Reverend," for it appears that this 
sacrilegious despoiler of God's workmanship was 
a clergyman. 

After leaving this avenue, we come to a place of 
peculiar interest to susceptible youths and sentimental 
young ladies, who are said to be on the qui vive when 
they enter its precincts. It is called " the Lover's 
Leap ;" although I could discover nothing in the spot 
or its surroundings to warrant so expressive an 
appellative. A long, narrow, pointed rock is to be 
seen projecting quite a distance over a deep pit full 
of jagged rocks and broken stones. But I could not 
learn that it had ever been the scene of any such 
imbecile exploit as is suggested by the name. We 
now retraced our steps to the main avenue, and after 
a short respite proceeded to the Star Chamber, by far 
the most solemn, grand, and imposing apartment in 
this cave. And I can say — without partaking of any 
of my bottled enthusiasm — that I witnessed while there 
one of the most sublimely beautiful sights I ever 
beheld, and one that I shall never forget as long as 
memory sits securely upon her throne. This " Cham- 



300 Mammoth Cave. 

ber," as it is called, is a long, magnificent hall, sixty 
feet high, with a flat ceiling. The walls on each side 
are of a light color, and are nearly perpendicular 
until within a few feet of the top, when they recede, 
making the room appear of an immense height. The 
ceiling is covered with a black incrustation of gyp- 
sum, studded with crj-stals, which have the appear- 
ance of stars in a dark night ; and so perfect is the 
illusion, that one can hardly persuade himself that 
the sky is not visible through an opening in the 
roof Our guide, who understands the dramatic 
effect to be produced by " lights and shadows," 
placed our lamps under a rock, so as to throw a soft, 
mellow light upon the ceiling, revealing the delicate 
marbling of the sky, and its artistically blended lights 
and shades. Then he would increase the shadow, to 
give the appearance of an approaching storm, until 
the whole heavens were darkened b}^ the threatening 
clouds. All that was wanting to complete the illu- 
sion was the lightning's vivid flash, and the deep 
mutterings of the distant thunder. It was a scene 
that cannot well be described, but must be seen to be 
appreciated. 



Stephen, the Guide. 301 

This ended our first day's exploration. — We bad 
been six hours in darkness (except what httle hght 
was emitted from our faintly glimmering lamps), and 
had walked about nine miles. When we emerged 
from the cave, the sun was shining brightly, and we 
were almost blinded by the intensity of light. The 
air felt hot and oppressive, although the day was not 
very warm, and we all comjolained of a feeling of 
prostration that we did not experience in the Cave. 
We, however, succeeded in reaching the Hotel, and 
eight o'clock found me courting sleep with "an 
alacrity " worthy of Sancho Panza. 

The next morning, daylight and /opened our eyes 
simultaneously ; and long before Old Sol was fairly 
awake, the Scotchman and myself, and Stephen, with 
his " lamps trimmed and burning," had entered upon 
our three-mile journey to that subterranean river of 
Oblivion known as Lethe. 

As our guide will figure somewhat conspicuously 
in this narration, a short description of him, I trust, 
wall not be considered inappropriate, or prove unin- 
teresting. It will at least serve to occupy the time 
until I sec some new natural curiosity to describe. 



302 Mammoth Cave. 

Stephen is said to be an Indian-mulatto (a curious 
admixture truly), but he has more the physiognomy 
of the Spaniard than of the Indian or African. He 
is rather below medium size, symmetrically formed, 
athletic, and celebrated for his daring exploits and 
love of adventure. He is now about forty years of 
age, and, like most celebrities, has been accustomed 
to good society. Having associated so much with 
scientific men, and the literati of all nations, he has 
acquired a smattering of several different languages, 
and become familiar with most of the geological 
formations of the cave. He can discourse quite 
learnedly upon Geology and its kindred sciences, and 
will detect a piece of stalagmite from a stalactite, as 
readily as a skilful lapidary will distinguish a real 
diamond from an imitation. His features are quite 
refined and classical, and his countenance has a mild 
and pleasant expression. His complexion is oT a 
dark olive, and his " love of a moustache," together 
with his black curling hair and dark melancholy 
eyes, are undoubtedly dagtierreotyped on the heart of 
many a sable damsel. Having recently obtained his 
freedom, he has some idea of emigrating to Liberia, 



Human Remains. 303 

bat his attacliniciit to this cave and its surroundings 
is so great that I doubt whether he can ever be 
induced to be separated from it. One would suppose 
that he would become tired of going over the same 
ground day after day, and year after year, but he 
assured me that it was " labor of love" to him, that 
he seldom passed through it without discovering some 
new beaut\^, some hitherto unrcvealed attraction, and 
that he never would tire of traversing its silent halls 
and solitary avenues. Stephen was very communi- 
cative, and pointed out every place of interest. lie 
showed us where the body of a woman was found 
when the cave was lirst explored. It was in a good 
state of preservation, although not embalmed accord- 
ing to the manner of the Egyptians. The body 
was wrapped in half-dressed deer skins ; at its feet 
lay a }iair of moccasins,- and various trinkets and 
ornaments, such as were worn by the Aborigines. 
Human bones have been dag u}) in different parts 
of the cave, and numerous Indian relics and curiosi- 
ties found ; such as bows, arrow-lieads, hatchets, and 
other articles of Indian warfare. Near a place called 
liichardson's Spring is a rock in which the prints of 



304 Mammoth Cave. 

moccasins are distinctly visible, suggesting the inte- 
resting probability of the cave having been, at some 
remote period, inhabited by " a race of forest-born 
monarchs." 

We are now upon the high bank above the Eivcr 
Styx, celebrated in Mammoth Cave history, as \yc1I 
as in heathen mythology, and from the unearthly 
darkness and gloom overshadowing it one might 
almost imagine it to be the fabled stream whose name 
it bears. We descend a long sloping bank to the 
water's edge. Huge defiant-looking rocks overarch 
the entrance. Beyond and below is chaos. Our 
dim lights will not penetrate the profound darkness, 
which hangs like a pall before us. We enter a small 
boat ; our lamps are placed in the bottom, so that the 
light will be reflected upwards, and we are launched 
upon the inky bosom of these ever midniglit waters. 
Gradually the light falls upon the broad, lincly arched 
ceiling, beneath which we are noiselessly gliding — 
with occasional fissures in the rock, revealing the 
intense darkness beyond. Our Charon, with his dark 
luminous eyes peering from under his slouched hat, 
as he sits crouched in the stern of the boat, presents 



Echo River. 305' 

a liiglily imaginative picture of Lis fabulous name- 
sake. It was a fine scene for a crayon. 

A third of a mile carries us to the opposite shore. 
After a short walk over rocks and sandbanks, we 
come to another boat of larger dimensions, which is to 
bear us over the waters of Lethe. We are now three 
hundred and twenty -five feet below the surface of the 
earth. This river sometimes rises fifty feet above its 
present height ; and with its foaming cataracts, and its 
yawning chasms gurgling with the sound of rushing 
water, is said to present an aspect of awful grandeur. 

This passage is nearly a mile long, and the whole 
distance replete with interest. At the further end is 
the famous Echo Eiver, which during high water is 
merely a continuance of Lethe. The entrance to 
this river is through an arched gateway of rocks, so 
low that a slight rise of the water will prevent the 
passage of boats, and at no time is tliere a space of 
more than three feet between the water and the rocks 
above. We were fortunate in finding sufficient space 
to admit our boat ; although for a few moments wc 
were compelled to hnmhie ourselves in a manner nei- 
ther graceful nor agreeable. 

13* 



3o6 Mammoth Cave. 

This ordeal passed, we emerged into ihc open 
river, where the rocks were high above our heads. 
While here, our guide fired a pistol, the report of 
which was deafening. The sound reverberated and 
echoed from arch to arch, and dome to dome, like 
continuous thunder. The echo is truly wonderful, 
and answers fully the descriptions that have been given 
of it, continuing, I should judge, for some twelve or 
fifteen seconds. At first, it is remarkably clear and 
distinct, but changes to a soft and musical cadence as 
it dies away in the distance. I notified Stephen the 
night before, when I engaged him to go with us into 
the cave, that he must be prepared to do justice to 
his reputation as a singer, as we should expect him 
to " discourse most eloquent music" on the occasion. 

It is a fact known to all who are familiar with this 
part of the cave, that sound is very much modified 
and softened by being produced here ; while, at the 
same time, the volume is greatly increased. The 
harshest notes become quite mellow, and the most 
immelodious voices comparatively sweet. It is not 
strange then, that Stephen, who has a rich, musical 
voice, and a thorough knowledge of acoustics in its 



Musical Echoes. 307 

connexion with this place, shoukl prove an attractive 
feature in the scene. He sang for us several popular 
airs appropriate to the occasion — such as " The Cana- 
dian Boat Song," " My old Kentucky Home," and 
" Oft in the Stilly Night," He would pause long 
enough at the end of every line, for the last ivord to 
be echoed back, the effect of which was indescribably 
fine. In the song of " Oft in the Stilly Night," the 
word niglit came back clear and distinct, and as musi- 
cal as 

" a heavenly breath 



Along an earthly lyre." 

There was a pathos blended and infused into the 
melody, which caused a feeling of sadness to steal 
imperceptibly over me. While impressed with these 
feelings, Stephen commenced singing " Old Hundred," 
assisted b}^ INfr. Frazer, whose voice was exceedingly 
rich and })o\verful. It was impressive beyond de- 
scription, and I almost imagined myself in some vast 
cathedral, listening to the rich swelling notes of 
the organ. A change came over the spirit of my 
dreams, I was no longer of this " earth, earthy," but an 



308 Mammoth Cave. 

inhabitant of tlic celestial world. I was transferred, 
in imagination, to the abodes of bliss — to the mid- 
night sanetuary of the Great Jehovah — where the 
air was vocal with the swelling notes of Praise from 
his attendant choir of angels. 

" For what can wake 
Tlie soul's strong instinct of another world, 
Like music !" 

We are now "on the other side of" Lethe, and 
I am not forgetful that we have yet five weary miles 
" over a hard road to travel," before we reach the 
further end of this universe of wonders. The scenery 
has entirely changed. Our path is constantly ob- 
structed by fragmentary rocks, over which we climb ; 
chasms, into which we descend ; and wild unearthly 
places, through which we pass : and were it not for 
the grandeur of the scene, and the visions of sand- 
wiches and other edibles promised at the end, con- 
stantly before me, I could not have accomplished the 
distance without the friendly aid of Stephen's back, 
which has been a " pack-saddle" for many a valetudi- 
narian, whose curiosity was greater than his endur- 



A Perilous Labyrinth, 309 

ance. But Stephen promises us new sights and new 
marvels, and I must try and follow him. 

As my sheet is becoming longer, I fear, than your 
patience, I shall only describe a few of the prominent 
attractions of this five miles of wonders. We pass 
through Silliman's Avenue, two miles in length, and 
over the Infernal Eegions, which are almost as deep, 
and finally reach the Pass of El Ghor — a fearful- 
looking place a mile and a half long, which is filled 
with enormous rocks above, below, and around, look- 
ing as if the least jar would dislodge and hurl them 
upon our devoted heads. As we climbed over the 
immense boulders which appeared as if they had just 
fallen from the roof, and gazed for the first time on the 
dark Titanic masonry rising on each side a hundred 
feet above us ; with its fearful looking clefts, its 
yawning seams, and ponderous masses of loosened 
rock staring us in the face, it was not strange that 
" each particular hair"' of our heads should incline 
to a perpendicular attitude. And when I beheld an 
enormous rock projecting over us like " a mighty 
Atlantean roof," without any visible support, I con- 
fess that I became insensible to fatigue, and my loco- 



310 Mammoth Cave. 

motion was qnickcned into increased activity until I 
was beyond the reach of all imaginary danger. 

After climbing over a few more rocks, and passing 
througli several narrow defiles, we readied the termi- 
nus of this truly perilous-looking labyrinth. A long 
ladder invited us to ascend. On reaching the top, 
we found ourselves within a bower worthy of being 
dedicated to tlid Goddess Pomona. It is called Mar- 
tha's Vineyard, on account of the beautiful incrusta- 
tions, resembling in form and appearance immense 
bunches of grapes, which cluster upon its sides and 
ceiling. These pearl-tinted and amber-hued products 
of this subterranean vineyard are beautiful to look 
at, and would be likely to excite the alimentiveness 
and cupidity of some of the &ir daughters of Eve, 
were their curiosity as irrepressible as that of their 
great ancestress. But this calcareous fruit, I imagine, 
would not be very palatable ; or the tasting of it as 
productive of serious consequences to after-humanity, 
as was the eating the product of "the forbidden tree" 
by our first parents. 

After leaving this bower, we entered a long avenue, 
and a short walk brought us to Washington ILill, 



Cleveland's Avenue. 311 

the usual place for dining; and from tbc quantities of 
broken bottles scattered around and other spirilaal 
manifestations, I judged that many of the visitors, 
if not converts to spiritualism, were at least desirous 
to cultivate an intimate acquaintance with that recon- 
dite subject. We rested here for a while, ate our 
biscuit and ham (without champagne sauce), and 
" talked turkey" over the dissecteti limb of a vene- 
rable gobbler, whose toughness was as incredible as 
his age. 

The next place worthy of note is Cleveland's 
Avenue, which many consider to be one of the prin- 
cipal attractions of this cavernous temple. It is a 
gorgeous apartment, rivalling in beauty the Gothic 
avenue, though much more extensive. This avenue 
is three miles long, about twenty feet high, and 
from sixty to seventy feet wide; its vast ceiling and 
sides are covered with white crystallizations, studded 
with stalactical gems, and sparkling with calcareous 
diamonds. It has been said by a distinguished geo- 
logist, that this avenue contains a petrilicd form of 
nearly every vegetable production indigenous to this 
locality. There is undoubtcdl}^ some truth in this 



312 Mammoth Cave. 

fissertion, for tlie walls and ceiling are covered with 
incrustations resembling in shape and appearance 
many kinds of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Some 
of these are massive in their proportions, and hard as 
adamant ; others, small and delicate as the lily, and 
fragile as wax-work. " So exquisite and beautiful," 
says one tourist, " is Cleveland's Avenue, that it is out 
of the power of painter or poet to conceive anything 
like it. Such loveliness cannot, indeed, be described. 
— Were the sovereigns of wealthy states to spend 
their all on the most skilful lapidaries they could 
find, with the view of rivalling the splendor of this 
truly regal abode, the attempt would be entirely in 
vain. * * * 

"It is incrusted from end to end with the most 
beautiful formations, in every variety of form. The 
base of the whole is carbonate of lime — in one part 
of dazzling whiteness, and perfectly smooth ; and in 
other places, crystallized so as to glitter like diamonds 
in the light. 

" Some of the crystals bear a striking resemblance 
to branches of celery, and all arc about the same 
length, while others, a foot or more in Icngtli, have 



Gorgeous Incrustations. 313 

the color and appearance of vanilla cream candy. 
Others are set in sulphate of lime, in the form of a 
rose ; and others still roll out from the base in forms 
resembling the ornaments on the capital of a Corin- 
thian column. Some of the incrustations are massive 
and splendid ; others are as delicate as the lily, or as 
fancy-work of shell or wood. Let any person think 
of traversing an arched way like this for a mile and 
a half, and all the wonders of the tales of yonth — 
not forgetting those gorgeous fictions, ' The Arabian 
Nights' — seem tame and uninteresting wdien brought 
into comparison with the living, growing reality. 
The term ' growing' is not a misnomer ; the process 
is going on before your eyes. Successive coats of 
these incrustations have been perfected, and then 
crowded off by others ; so that hundreds of tons of 
these gems lie at your feet, and are crushed as you 
pass, while the work of restoring the ornaments for 
Nature's houdoir is proceeding around you. Ilcre 
and there through the whole extent, you will find 
openings in the side, into which you may thrust the 
person, and often stand erect in little grottoes, perfectly 
incrusted with a delicate white substance, reflecting 



314 Mammoth Cave. 

the hghts from a thousand ghttcrhig points. Many 
visitors are so enraptured with the phice, that they 
cannot repress excLamations of surprise or worship." 
We will now leave this avenue. A short walk 
brings us to the Rocky Mountains, " the foiiiih and 
last" great feature of this subterranean universe. I 
hardly know how to describe the awful grandeur of 
this place, and its adjunct, The Dismal Hollow. It 
is a room of immense breadth and height, with a 
mountainous pile of rocks at its entrance, which rise 
in the form of an amphitheatre nearly to the ceiling. 
These rocks are of almost every conceivable size and 
form ; sharp, jagged, and heaped together in " chaotic 
confusion," having undoubtedly been loosened from 
the roof by some tremendous convulsion of Nature. 
Clambering up this mountain of rocks fifty or sixty 
feet, we discovered on the other side an immense 
hollow stretching off into the darkness and gloom. 
Our guide illuminated the place, revealing the wilder- 
ness of desolation before us. You can conceive of 
nothing terrestrial that is more dismal and sepulchral 
than this spot, which impressed us with a kind of 
" holy horror" as we gazed into its gloomy confines. 



Stalactites and Stalagmites. 315 

A short distance from here is Croghan's Hall, the 
end of this portion of the cave, and nine miles from 
daylight, and " the light of other days." This is a 
large room, semi-rotunda in form, the roof and sides 
of which are draped with wavy sheets of stalactite, 
extending from the ceiling to the floor. Some were 
a dingy white, others of a translucent, icy hue, look- 
ing not unlike a congealed water-fall. In the dim 
distance, uprising from the rocky floor, were several 
stalagmite columns, about the size of the human 
form; which, amid the sepulchral stillness of this 
weird-like place, looked as if they might be sheeted 
ghosts or " goblins damn'd." While gazing on these 
apparitions there came over me — 

" An undefined and sudden thrill 
That makes the heart a moment still, 
Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed 
Of that strange sense of silence framed," 

While my imagination was thus excited, our guide 
extinguished the lamps, and led us slowly along 
through the intense darkness which enveloped us 
like a pall. I had great confidence in Stephen, yet I 
could not divest myself of a sort of nervous a})pre- 



31 6 Mammoth Cave. 

hension and dread, as we followed him with slow and 
cautious footsteps. After proceeding quite a distance 
he stopped and ignited a Bengal light. As the blue 
sulphurous flame ascended, I discovered that we were 
standing on the brink of a frightful abyss. I started 
back alarmed, but being reassured by our guide, 
approached this yawning chasm. As I looked down 
into its fearful depths, which had never yet been 
fathomed, my ear was greeted by the dull roar of an 
invisible waterfall. The ground was damp and slip- 
pery, from a mist, which, though scarcely perceptible, 
was diffused through the surrounding atmosphere. 
A kind of nervous chillness crept over me, and I 
instinctively shuddered as I gazed into these gloomy 
regions. It was by far the most frightful place I ever 
beheld, and I could hardly realize that I was not 
standing on the brink of that mythical place known 
as Tartarus ; which has been described as 

" A black and hollow vault 
Where day is never seen ; there shines no sun, 
But flaming horror of consuming fires ; 
A lightless sulpliur, cliok'd with smoky fogs 
Of an infected darkness." 



The Eyeless Fish. 317 

A thousand fantasies filled my mind, and I was glad 
to leave this place of supernatural horrors, lest my 
sleep that night be disturbed by spectral visions and 
apparitions dire. 

On our return voyage of the Lethe, we tried to 
catch some of the eyeless fish which abound in that 
river, but the water was too deep for success. As I 
did not have the pleasure of seeing one of these 
anomalies of the finny tribe, I shall have to depend 
for a description upon those who have been more 
fortunate than myself The}'- are about the size of a 
minnow, from one and a half to two inches long, 
perfectly white, translucent, and without a vestige of 
the visual organ. Scientific men, however, disagree 
in this particular. Some say that they cannot dis- 
cover the least appearance of an eye, even with a 
powerful microscope ; while others contend that they 
once had eyes, and that a collapsed socket is clearly 
discernible. But y/hen learned men disagree upon 
piscatory subjects, who is to of-flsh-i&te as umpire ? 

How I got back to the " breathing world" again to 
dinner and daylight, I have not time now to inform 
you. Though I had performed a journey of eighteen 



3i8 Mammotli Cave. 

miles, in and out, within a period of nine hours, T 
resolved to add one more mile to my day's labor, and 
visit again the Star Chamber, to take one " long, last, 
lingering look" at this brilliantly beautiful apartment, 
and to gaze for a wliile upon those midnight sentineh 
in tlie glorious firmament above — upon the stars, 
those silent spirits of Nature, though silent they 
seem, 

" Yet each to the thonglitful eye, 
Glows with 7nutQ poesy T'' 

My companion from the land of Burns — who had 
lived for many years among the " banks and braes o' 
Bonnie Boon" — was of a highly poetical tempera- 
ment, and, like the immortal bard, an enthusiastic 
admirer of Nature. I was glad to find that he was 
desirous, like myself, to revisit tliis attractive spot, to 
behold once more this glorious evidence of God's 
omnipotence. We seated ourselves on a rock, and 
gave our lamps to Stephen, who was to leave us alone 
for a while, that we might the better enjoy the solemn 
silence of this vast cathedral of Nature. When the 
last footnill had died on the car, and the last gleam 



A Last Look. 319 

of light disappeared, we found ourselves plunged 
suddenly into Cimmerian darkness. Hark! let pulse 
and breath be still! We could not speak. Our 
thoughts were too deep for utterance: our wonder 
and amazement too great for expression. It seemed 
as if I never before felt so impressively the majesty 
and goodness of the Creator of all this grandeur. We 
were aroused from our reverie by the resounding 
footsteps of our guide, and the gradual lightening up 
of the grim grey walls surrounding us. The illusory 
sky appeared to our view, with its twinkling stars 
and passing cloud, and we left this soul-absorbing 
spot with relactance and regret. * * * * * 

From the geological formation of this cave, and 
other indications observed by visitors in their exami- 
nations, it is evident that it contains many apartments 
that have not yet been explored. In several places 
the hollow iloor echoes and resounds at our tread, 
and we are doubtless passing over some vast cavern 
or opening underneath, separated from the room 
above by a thin layer of rock. And in one or more 
places where there is a slight opening, the sound of 
an invisible waterRill mav be hoard, roaring and 



320 Mammoth Cave. 

tumbling in its frantic but vain efforts to be released 
from captivity. 

In the vicinity of the Mammoth Cave, are several 
smaller caves already explored; also, indications of 
there being many others, to which, as yet, there is no 
entrance from the upper world. The whole of this 
region is cavernous, and abounds in pits or " sinks" 
as they are called, where the surface of the earth has 
sunk to various depths, indicating the existence of a 
cavity beneath. 

What magnificent Halls, Domes, and Avenues, 
decorated with as brilliant stalactites, as beautiful 
crystallizations, and as rare mineralogical specimens 
as the eye ever beheld, lie concealed beneath these 
hills and valle3^s, it remains perhaps for the future to 
disclose. It is a fruitful theme for the imagination. 
Its revelations — if its hidden mysteries are ever to 
be revealed, are reserved for the future discoverer; 
and its history — if ever to be written — to the his- 
torian of after time. 

THE END. 



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